Three minutes later. . .
The four dear es were stated in front of me and with different items in each pair of arms.
'I am willing to pay in gold.' The first dwarf declared standing up from his seat and show a huge bag of gold. 'The gold in my hand is dwarf gold, worth more than human gold and I humbly consider it a worthy payment.'
I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
'Do not be ridiculous! The meal is well deserved to be payed by a polished gem!' The second dwarf showed a few gems shinging in both general and beautiful colors, but were the size of a small but each. 'They are not enchanted and definetely not big, but they were mined and polished by our people and can be used as an emergency sale to keep up the restaurant's costs.' He promised. 'Now that is a worthy payment.'
I looked at the second dwarf, not bothering to hide my enthusiasm.
'No gold nor gems!' The third dwarf grunted in responded. 'Let her know what a barrel of real dwarf beer is!' He put down the barrel he had on his back into the floor. 'Fermented black beer, fermented with yeast that no human is able to produce or use. Now that is a real and worthy payment.' Declared.
'You are wrong, me is right!' The fourth dwarf declared. 'I have special and rare spices which are safe for both humans and non-humans in general!' He raised a small chest and opened it, showing small and medium jars full of rare spices. 'Now THIS is a worthy payment!'
I listened while they discussed with what was a more of a "worthy payment," but as soon as I saw that they were getting agitated, I clapped two times to get the four dwarve's attention. 'Okay guys, settle down!' I requested. 'Now, look gentlemen. Gold is useful. Gems are beautiful. Beer is tasty, and herbs will make everything more delicious. But, remember, I am not a queen sitting in her the ones looking and counting her treasures, I am a restaurant and landlord who needs to keep my businesses and children afloat. I can accept all the payments you offer as the payment of each individualmeal, but let's keep the payment at a good exchange so you do not abuse of me and I do not abuse of you.' I proposed.
They all blinked. The first dwarf growled. 'She's right you dolts! It is about paying fair, not about what is more worthy!' He agreed with me. 'Let's all pay for each meal individually, then. That way, we'll pay accordingly to our value for the meal.' He proposed.
The dwarves nodded in agreement and the first dwarf stepped forward. 'I shall give you forty dwarf gold coins.' He out the money in my desk.
The second dwarf stepped forward with a small and beautifully polished gems. 'I shall pay for my meal, giving you these three gems: sapphire, emerald, and ruby.' He put the gems at the desk.
The third dwarf, brought to the left side of my desk his barrel of beer. 'This is my payment for the meal.'
The fourth dwarf, brought out a smaller group of herbs and spices in the desk. 'I consider this enough for my meal.'
I smiled accordingly, but then looked at the amount of gold and gulped. 'Em. . .' I took thirty from the fourty dwarf gold coins and gave them back to the first dwarf. 'Here you go. I apologize for this, but I do not feel like you should be making yourself poor just for a meal.' I then took the sapphire and ruby back to the second dwarf. 'And I see the small emerald as more than enough, keep the rest as change.' I looked at the other two. 'As for the rest, I consider the payment appropiate.'
There was a brief silence. 'Ha! A human with a sense of balance and respect! Now I get why the orcs and goblins spoke highly of you!' The first dwarf laughed with his group happily.
I then, went to make a few drawings. 'Can I have your names or nicknames, gentleman?' I asked.
'Hahaha! Well, we can use our real names, for we are not fae. But, we use nicknames and title as a form of respect and care.' The first dwarf explained. 'In my case, you may call my Boryn Rockhammer.' He presented himself.
I nodded and wrote the name as best as I could. Then, I drawed under his name, the food and number of drinks he took, the sign of equal (=) across the paper, and a gold coin multiplied by ten with a small bracket that said "dwarf gold." I then took the paper and gave it to the dwarf. 'There we go.' I then took another piece of paper. 'Next?'
The dwarves were confused until they looked at the drawing.
'Finally, a human who understands the worth of the food and drink in our hands!' The first dwarf grunted with a demi-soft expression.
'I am next! I'm next!' The second dwarf asked up to the desk. 'I am called "Thoryn Rockblade."' He presented himself.
I nodded and did the same drawing, but with the food and drinks he ate and drank and the payment being drawned as the emerald I took as payment. Then I followed with the other two, and, while it took a bit of time, it was rewarding to see each of their faces receiving the receipt.
Then, just to make sure it looks legit, each dwarf signed their receipt next to my signature.
Afterwards, I let them leave opening the door for them. 'Hope you have a nice meal! Come again!' I exclaimed behind them and then looked at my right where Orson was coming. 'Oh! Hey Orson! Need anymore help?' I asked.
'Thankfully, no. Everybody is already just eating their meals, chatting or just asking seconds or thirds. . .' Orson exhaled thankful for the situation now. 'I also came to bring you these.' He gave the papers from the orders with symbols for each group and individual. 'I know that you know what meal each dwarf ate and how many drinks they had, but I thought of giving you this just in case. That way it'll be easier for you to make the "receipts of payment," and I gave each group and individual, depending on whether they ate in group or alone, a symbol according to their order.' He explained his plan.
I sighed out of relief. 'That is amazing, Orson! Thank you. Hopefully, from now on it will be easier.' I promised him. 'And, about the people who are asking seconds or more. . .'
Orson waved his hand relaxed. 'We are still accumulating their orders until we can make sure they are done and willing to see you for payment.' He let me know.
'Oh! Okay, thank you.' I sighed of relief. 'In that case, let them know that I can attend the next group of people or individual in the next. . .' I checked the orders depending on the groups and numbers. 'Five minutes.' I requested.
Orson nodded and went to do just that, while I went inside my office and prepared the orders wrotten down dividing it by symbols.
Orson and I designed the symbols in an order were it could depend on what type of creature they were:
— Orcs were a wooden club
— Goblins were a curved knife with a pouch of coins
— Gnomes were a shovel and a rake forming an "X"
— Dwarves have a hammer and a chisel on top of a few rocks
— Satyrs were a lyre on top of a leaf
— Nymphs were a circle with the four elements (water, air, rock and fire)
— Vampires were a small shadow of a bat.
After classifying the orders depending on the species, I noticed that the orcs, goblins and gnomes were still not finished. I almost did not know who I felt more sorry for: the non-humans who are only accumulating their debt, or, my chefs who were working themselves to the bone by now. . . I kinda feel more sorry for myself now! I'm the one who is going to have to get MORE ingredients! I cried internally and exhaled lamenting myself.
*Knock Knock Knock!!* Someone knocked on the door.
I straightened myself up. 'Come in!' I let them enter.
A pair of two vampires appeared and sat down infront of me and my desk. 'Good evening.' They said with a brooding yet satisfying time each.
'Good evening to you too.' I welcomed the as I immediately checked the orders from them both. 'Both of you are going to be paying in pair, or is one paying for both?' I asked them.
'We'll pay together, if you do not mind.' The vampire on my left answered.
'Very well, now, what can you offer as payment?' I asked looking at them.
'We were thinking of offering a one-time-favor of protection.' The vampire on the left took from inside his cloak a beautiful brooch, made of a black mineral, with a dark ruby in the shape of a drop. Making it look like a waterdrop. 'This brooch, is a "blood summoner" which means, once you break it, our clan and ourselves will come to your rescue at a time of need.' He slided the brooch towards the table. 'Becareful though, once it is broken, the clan will come and there will be no second chances.' He gave me a fair warning.
I nodded and took the brooch to inspect it. 'Very well. . . So I need to break it in case there's immediate danger?' I asked to be sure. The vampires nodded. Oh, how I wish I had at least one of this in SO many occassions. I recalled all those times I was in danger. 'I'll take it as a sole payment then.' I started to write the receipt.
'While you do the "receipt ritual," we noticed that you have three more children, which I believe are beside the daughter you mentioned earlier . . . Am I correct?' The vampire on my right asked.
'Well, yes. But, none of them are my own. . .' I admitted. 'They are. . . Adopted to put it nicely. The children actually come from different backgrounds. . . Most of them abandoned. Liam is a bizarre situation with his elf mother, because, she and her brother gave me an economic fund for me to take him from them.' I explained how things went from there. 'That way, Liam's mom could return to her clan without the child, and well. . . Liam has been officially considered me his mom for a little while now. . .' I shrugged.
Both vampires blinked. 'You mean you just adopt or take children that aren't your and treat them as yours?' The vampire on the left inquired.
'Yes and no. If I have the funds and the parents either have died, or abandoned them, I easily take them since, well, the parents are not going to take them back.' I clarified shrugging my shoulders. 'But in situations like Liam, where the child can easily be taken care of by his family, then, they are obliged to give me something like 10,000 gold coins or it's equivalent.' I said it to the vampires. 'This money is primarly for emergencies for the child especifically, that way, I won't need to come to the parents every now and then to demand economic help and, by default, they do not need to care for the young one any longer. . . And, last but not least, they have to surrender their parental rights, and if they are no-humans, clan or pack rights over the child, plus making a legal contract in which the whole family, clan or pack surrenders the child permanently. . .' I then looked at both vampires as I finished the receipt and a pair of small contracts. 'Why do you ask?'
'We, were just curious.' The vampire dodged the question and with the other vampire, both of the signed the contracts with the pen that I have them. . . But signed with their own blood. . . 'Here we go.' They both declared simultaneously.
I easily signed it with ink and gave them the receipt and one of the small contracts. 'Here you go then. I am only giving you one of the contracts because that way, it can be used to make sure both sides are doing their part of the deal. That way, there's less chances to falsificate or scam either of us.' I let them know.
One of them raised both eyebrows, while the other gave a smile of acknowledgement. They both nodded to me and standed up. 'We'll see ourselves out, have a good evening.' The vampire on the right told and bid me goodbye. 'It was pleasant meal.' He added letting his companion leave first and then close the door behind him.
I then exhaled out of relief. 'I almost thought I was going to die there.' I slouched on my seat swearing and feeling my nerves shot, yet feeling like I ran a marathon without the proper shoes, or attire. 'Phew!' I cleaned the sweat from my forehead and then put the vampire orders to the trash.
*Knock Knock Knock!* other being has knocked on the door.
I straightened myself up. 'Come in!' I let them pass giving my best smile.
The satyrs' and nymphs made their way inside the office and, while the satyrs stayed standing, the nymphs sat down in the seats in front of my office.
'Hello, dear creatures of mother earth, was the meal alright?' I asked checking out the satyr and nymph orders.
'Yes it was.' Both especies nodded in agreement, smiling bright en at my greeting and some chuckling at it.
'And we have decided to pay for the meal in group.' The water nymph answered.
I nodded. 'Give me a moment please. . .' I requested as I draw the food and drink of each of the five members of the group (two satyrs and three nymphs). 'There we go. . . Now, what do each of you offer to contribute?' I asked.
The Water nymph standed as she brought out of her chest, a small light blue pearl. 'My contribution will be this small pearl.' She put it in my desk. 'Normal pearls are colorless or white, but I believe this pearl can be used as a good contribution.' She sat down.
Then, the tree nymph to my left standed and from her hair made out of branches and leaves, took out a small sack made of leaves and full of seeds. 'These seeds can be planted in every type of soil and field, except for winter. I believe it might contribute to the food of the restaurant so I am giving this as my contribution.' She entailed as she put the sack of seeds side by side the pearl and sat down.
The rock nymph on my right standed up and from her hand, she made appear some amethysts in the rough. 'These gems are hard to find unles you are a human miner or a rock nymph such as myself, I offer these three amethysts to you.' She put her contribution on the table next to the pearl on my righ side.
I then draw them as best as I could, while the satyrs came up with their own offers. As soon as I was done, both satyrs' out two medium sacks of money behind the contributions of the nymphs. I looked surprised and up to see the satyrs smirking.
'Yeah, there are times where humans come around where we live, and then we tend to bet amongs them. . .' One of the satyrs explained. 'And since, we don't know how much money is in either bag, you can have them both.'
I gulped down, but did not reject them. In fact, I rather keep all the money that they offer. It might be greedy, but that practically could be the money I can pay my employees for the week. . . Maybe even add a bonus too. I rationalized my thoughts and finished adding the two pouches full of money.
I then gave the receipt to them and guided them to the door. 'Have a nice trip home.' I bidé goodbye.
'Thank you! Thanks. The food was delightul. Yeah, I am coming here again!' The group of five left with smiles on their faces,
I exhaled and quickly hided all that I had along with pouches of money, the blood brooch and etc etc.
*Knock knock knock!* Someone knocked on the door again.
'Come in!' I let them in.
Orson came in with the paper orders from gnomes and goblins and then left with a smile, but not even five seconds later. . .
The group of gnomes came in. With their beards and big pointy hats, walking like little explorers or toddlers, two gnomes opened the door win one on top of each other, while the other four of them came in with a big sack for their size and strength.
I had to keep a smile while internally laughing hysterically at the scene. 'E-Ehem, do you guys n-need any help?' I asked trying to keep myself from laughing. Hahahahahahaha!!! I cackled on the inside.
'No, we are alright, thank you.' The four gnomes carrying the sack said simultaneously as they put the sack carefully on the floor.
The other two gnomes, walking up to me closing the door behind them and the one on the top jumped from the other gnome's shoulders. 'My lady, we ask for forgiveness beforehand for not coming here sooner, the food was extremely good and, well, we wanted to decide what to give in exchange before coming to the office.' The oldest one told me a bit shy.
They look like little kids with gnome costumes, awww~~. I smiled out of cuteness. 'It is completely fine. Let's get on with this, shall we? I will have more clients to attend soon.' I remarked looking at the orders from the goblins.
'Yes yes!' The oldest gnome nodded in agreement. 'We decided to pay as a group. We hope you accept everything we have out in this sack.' He hopped.
The other three gnomes still holding the sack on the floor, they opened it and the other took out to show what was inside.
'We have small jars of sweet pollen, singing mushrooms, mini pumpkin seeds that can grow in a matter of hours in summer and days in autumn, handmade tools for bread, soup and woodwork, two wind up mechanical toys: a spinning top and a small wood puppet; half-carved quartz, a pocket watch, varnishing linseed polish for wood, a small pouch of human money, mini crystal lantern, a jar of fermented honey, and small clay talismans with homemade tunes to "bring harvest".' The oldest gnome presented the payment with a bit of nerviousism.
I looked over all the things that they were offering, and smiled at them. 'Look guys, while everything looks good, I might have to take off a few things.' I told them. 'The singing mushrooms might become a headache for some customers who prefer silence or light chatting, so they are out; the varnishing oil is unuseful in the kitchen; the talismans will only be used as paperclips, and, well, the quartz would be accepted if only they were more done than what they are already.' I explained the situation to them. 'Also, not offense, but, any merchant worth their salt would know that the pocket watch is broken.' I pointed to the clock which was clearly not working and had a few dents on both sides.
The gnomes looked down at the floor. Looking guilty.
'But, I am willing to let you replace these things with these other things: one, I want you to speak about the restaurant positviely to everyone you know; two, the pocket watch will only be accepted once you fix it before leaving; three but not least, the quartz you have and the amethysts I received from the nymphs shall be polished nicely.' I proposed for my part. 'Sounds good?' I gave the oldest gnome my hand.
They all murmured in low voices in a language I cannot comprehend, but they all nodded at the same time and the oldest gnome streched my hand. 'Just to ask, is it okay if add a bit of music to the pocket watch? Not only to work but to bring happiness to whoever has it.' He proposed.
I smiled at them. 'That will be up to you, but first make sure it works properly and for long period of time. . .' I told them.
The gnomes started to talk by themselves as they were being completely serious about making sure the payment was good.
The oldest gnome clapped my hand. 'Give us around one one or two hours and we'll have everything done.' He declared as he left my hand and stood up. 'Up and onward guys! We need to let her see the other clients!' He ordered.
Everyone organized nicely and left the same way they entered. 'We'll be back in a few hours with everything ready!' The oldest gnome assured leaving with another gnome on top of him and closing the door.
I nodded with a smile and went to sit and prepared the contracts for the gnomes to expand the word of the restaurant, as well as the receipts in advance.
Orson came in a few minutes later and gave me the orders from the goblins and orcs. . . He looked exhausted. 'Well. . . They ate all the meat we had in the warehouse. . .' He sighed. 'We might have to close the restaurant for a few days for both resting and restocking.' He determined stretching his back.
I smiled crying on the inside. 'Well. . . Let's, hope that the orcs at least pay restocking the meat the ate. . .' I said to him.
'They better, otherwise I highly suggest you put for both humans and non-humans a huge board infront of the restaurant: "If you are not going to pay with human money, AT LEAST use with immediate food as payment."' He proposed smiling like he was going crazy.
I chuckled. 'Well, at least the satyrs' payed with these.' I showed him the puches full of coins. 'They all copper and a few silvers, but I believe we have enought to pay everyone today and let them have the rest of the week off and come back on Monday.'
Orson gasped as if he saw gold. 'Did other creatures payed in any other, similar way?' He asked.
'Well. . .' I went down on the floor by my side and lifted the heavy pouch of ten dwarf gold coins.
Orson looked like he was about to have a stroke of happiness. 'You'll need to go the capital's bank to exchange all that for silver, at least.' He let me know.
I nodded. Then I showed him the blue pearl.
'Oh my! Em. . .' Orson got closer and ajustes his glasses. 'Yeah em. . . I-I do believe it might be better for you to just keep that one. Usually, things as hard to come by as pearls of any color, gems oh high value, and one-of-a-kind favours are kept by the owner of the place, which is you.' He told me looking frowning. 'And I highly suggest you keep these type of payments quiet from the others. . . Because, I think you already know about what jealousy and envy can do, right?'
I nodded and put everything under my desk.
'By the way, I saw on of the dwarves come in with a huge barrel. . .' Orson recalled looking around and finding the barrel on the corner behind. 'Is that it?'
'Why yes.' I confirmed looking briefly at the barrel, and then back at Orson. 'They said it was "black beer."'
'Black beer?!' Orson jumped in shock. 'Oh. . . Boy.' He shook his hands thinking quickly.
I raised an eyebrow. 'Is something wrong, Orson?' I asked.
'Actually yeah! Black beer made by dwarves is extremely hard to come by!' Orson exclaimed in a low voice. 'And one the most wanted beers amongs thee orcs . . .' He remarked pointing to the orders paled up in my desk with the wood club symbol.
Oh. . . Oooooooohhhhh! My eyes went wide knowing what could come. 'Yyyyyyeaaaaaahhhh. . . Okay, I can see the problem now.' I murmured smiling nervously. 'Hmmm. . . Hey, I have an idea.' I told him. 'Come.'
He and I "remodeled" de place by putting my bookshelf, and documents to help hide the beer barrel.
'Phew!' We both exhaled relieved.
'In the city, the black beer can only be bought one silver for each glass.' Orson added.
'One glass per what?!' I asked without raising my voice. With MORE reason I shall not let the orcs have this last barrel!! Not on my watch! I determined taking a deep breath and exhaling. 'Well. . . Let's hope they won't notice the new changes.'
'You and me both.' Orson cleaned the sweat off his face.
'Say. . .' I took the big pieces of money and gave them to Orson. 'Could you please count the money for me? If it is enough to pay for everyone's salary in the restaurant, give it them. And tell them once everyone leaves, they only have to pick up everything and leave. And let the dishwashers know that they still have to come tomorrow to wash everything that was not washed already.' I gave him my instructions.
'I shall do so, mam.' Orson nodded taking the heavy pouches. 'Wow! How is possible that the satyrs had these much money!?' He asked surprised.
'They said they would often bet in games with human travelers.' I told him. 'And, because they did not had any worth for human money, they would not have anything pay for. . . Until now.'
Orson raised both eyebrows and then looked at both pouches. 'I am actually half-hoping for more satyrs coming here now.' He admitted.
'Hahaha! Me too, my friend. Now, go. I have clients to attend to.' I shoo him friendly.
Orson nodded and left, with a bit of difficulty, but in the end he was able to leave and closed the door behind him.
Ten minutes later. . .
Three goblins came by. 'We came here to give our payment, "open arms."' They declared taking a seat in front of me. 'Each one of use have their own group, so, we'll pay with our group individually.'
I raised an eyebrow. 'Open arms?' I asked a bit confused.
'That's how orcs call you, "open arms."' Another goblins explained.
'Ahh~~~, okay that is fine. . .' I nodded understanding. 'So, as you can see. . .' I showed them all the orders that came from them. 'You practically helped eating almost all our stock of meat. . . Anything you can offer?'
The one on the left raised his hand. 'My group and I are merchandisers of the low-fae, we do not have much, but we do have a collection of "old money" well kept on our care.' He offered. 'For us is trash, but I'm sure you'll have use for it. Also, we offer to keep expanding word about your restaurant through our merchant routes.' He added. 'And, these little guys.' He brought up a group of small mouses. 'These are what we call "guardians of the merchandise," They are trained to guard the places you instruct them to, and They will squeak loudly if someone enters a place they should have not.' He promised.
I nodded to that. 'Very well. . .' I quickly made a drawing for the old money and the offer to expand word. 'As for the other two groups?' I asked looking at the other goblins.
The goblin on the right stood up. 'My group and I are "Forest gamblers," and as the term suggests, we tend to gamble with other creatures, goblins, humans and more to make our income. We can offer all the human copper we have available, and a few silvers each of us in my group have to make sure it covers each meal.' He offered. 'And, if it is not enough, we'll give you some pretty colored raven feathers too.' He put a small sack full of raven and crow feathers of different colors in the desk.
I nodded to that and quickly made the receipt. 'Let's go with you now.' I told the goblin in the middle.
The goblin in the middle stood up. 'We are a group that, you could translate as "mercenaries" or "warriors," depending on how you look at us. . . But my group is also willing to expand word about the restaurant, and. . .' He took out of his huge backpack a few scrolls of almost his own size. 'We'll give some concoction recipes to use as you sit fit.' He put his scrolls on the table.
'Very well. . .' I looked at the receipts and frowned. 'Hmm. . . Goblin from the mercenaries group, do you think you could bring a sample of each recipe that you gave me? Just for verification that they work. Also, do you guys make or have some, small weapons or traps with you?' I asked.
'We have a few samples of the most expensive concoctions yes. And, we do have traps to defend territory.' The goblin mercenary responded.
'Good, in that case, add a supply of those traps, a concoction sample to these recipes, and. . .' I noted that the mercenary had his hands of different colors besides green. 'If you are okay with it, bring me a small jar of color pigment if you have it, does not matter what color.' I delivered to him and then turned to see the goblin of forest gamblers. 'As for you, I am going to ask your group to collect information for me. For the next week, I want you and your best informants to collect all the information the humans in this town have about the restaurant and me. Are we good?' I asked.
The goblin gambler nodded.
'Alright. As for you. . .' Amelia turned to see the goblin merchandiser. '. . . Do you have any dry herbs human and non-human friendly?' I asked.
'Well do so, yes. Do I add some jars?' The goblin merchandiser asked.
'Yes please.' I nodded as I finished the last part of the the receipts and contracts. 'Now please sign with your seals and keep the receipts and contracts.' I told them as such. 'Once you have the merchandise ready, please ask for Agnes to guide you to the warehouse.' I then turned to see the mouse guardians. 'As for the mouses, recipes and feathers, leave them with me for now.' I told them.
The did as they were told and they left with their receipts and contracts.
I exhaled and slammed on my seat.
*Queak* One of the mouses came forward to me.
I patted their heads. 'I am going to have to introduce you to the cat soon. . .' I remembered the cat. 'Very soon. . .' I then started to organize the orcs' orders. . . Which were, quite the pile. Literally. 'They better have brought something in advance, otherwise, they can considered themselves banned from the restaurant for the rest of the year.' I murmured to myself in annoyance.
As soon as I finished organizing the orders, which were from three clans. . . The orcs appeared in smaller sizes (thank goodness), and took a seat in each seat in front of me and across from my desk.
'Look guys, before you all say what you can offer, let me tell you or remind you that I simply cannot take weapons or anything "orc sized" because I do not have the strength for it, I will have a hard time selling it, and last but not least, I might have to risk my relationship with the humans and the kingdom which I would not like to do.' I clarified firmly, took a deep breath and then smiled brightly. 'What are you offering for payment?'
The orcs looked a bit surprised but nodded understanding.
The orc on the right clarified his throat. 'My tribe and I were first offering to give one of our best clubs and a sack of boar teeth. . . But since you need to be discreet for the sake of your relationship with your people. . . We are willing to give a small chest of minerals and iron, and a promise to never step a foot into the restaurant if one of us has drunk too much.' The orc proposed.
'Sounds good to me.' I smiled. 'And you two?' I asked looking at the others.
The one in the middle cleared his throat. 'Well, we came with a huge amount of dry and smoked meat as payment, but we would also like to add a pelt of tanned skin.' He offered. 'We have from small rabbits to a giant bear. Would you like to choose?'
I thought about it. 'Hmm. . . Well, I would not like the giant bear, it would attract too many questions. . . Do you have wolves and maybe foxes?' I asked.
'We have four wolves: white, black, gray and brown.' The orc in the middle responded. 'And we have twenty foxes which are divided into two types of foxes: orange and the silver one.'
I raised my eyebrows. 'In that case. . . I would like the pelt of of the gray wolf and, five foxes and one silver.' I asked as I went on to draw a bit of the receipt and then thought about it. 'As for the rabbits. . . Give me. . . . Eight rabbit pelts from random colors. Just make sure they have quality.' I added continuing.
'Very well.' The orc nodded acepting the deal.
The last orc cleared his throat. 'As for me and my tribe, are a tribe of merchants, and we are willing to cover all the expenses of our meals with actual copper and silver, plus a barrel of orc beer.' He offered. 'It is a strong beer, mind you.' He warned me.
I nodded to that. 'That is great!' I smiled excitedly at him.
I nodded smiling and went on to make the receipts.
"Warrior orc clan:
Chest with iron in it + Peacemaker promise = the whole meals of each orc of the tribe."
"Hunter orc clan:
All the dry and smoked meat they have with them + 15 animal pelts = the whole meals of the tribes."
"Merchant orc clan:
1,500 silver + 300 copper + one barrel of orc beer = the whole meals of their tribe."
I finished the receipts and gave them to the orcs. 'Here you go. Ask for Orson in the kitchen and show the receipts. He should let you know where to put the stuff.' I gave them the instructions.
The orcs nodded and one by one they left, but I stopped the merchant orc. 'Hold up, I have something else to arrange with you, and you might want to hear it.' I motioned him to follow me back to the desk.
The orc raised an eyebrow but closed the door infront of him and followed back to his seat. 'Since you and I are merchants, let's have a deal with each other.' I offered. 'Anything that your people and the other non-species don't like and will most likely not buy, bring them to me, where I can easily sell it to humans. Rare fabrics, spices that you won't use, and even common or basic tools, kit, etc. That way you'll get rid of the things you'll probably never sell in a non-human, and I get to make human money out of it.' I explained how it was going to work.
The orc looked at me thoughtful. 'Hmmm. . . What would be the immediate exchange then?' He asked.
I stiffled a laugh nervously and played a bit with my hair. 'I'll be honest here. It is my first time making a deal like this with a non-human merchant, let alone an orc-merchant, so I do not have any idea of what you and your people might want or need.' I admitted raising my hands in surrender. 'Therefore, I'll be willing to listen to you and see what you need or want to get from me. Who knows? Maybe I already have something you want or need, or maybe I can get if for you way easier.' I remarked that last part, knowing full well that non-humans have a hard time selling and getting thing with and from humans.
The orc raised an eyebrow and went into deep thought. 'Well, lady "open arms," I'll be crystal clear here: we orcs do not want or need silver or gold, so that is out of the question.' He declared firmly.
'Good, because that is for me only.' I answered with my human greed.
'Hahaha!' The orc laughed at my honest yet funny answer. 'Of course. Ehem. . . Most of the things I would like and want are basically what you humans have in excess. A great example would be salt. The salt we get is heavy and hard to dilute it with the food while human salt is more refined.' He gave an example. 'Another example, would be needle and thread. It is hard for women to sew and embroid with bone needle and pelt thread, and when I exchange with other humans, I get breakable and. . . What was the word. . . Ah! Right, shitty stuff at a high price.' He explained the second problem to me. 'Another thing would be glass. From jars, to small mirrors, my people like the shiny stuff and is useful too.' He finishe crossing his arms. 'If you are capable of bringing at least one of these things, we'll make the deal. If you can make it work for the three, I'll even bring merchandise you won't see in any other place.'
'Hmm. . . I can make it work, but we can only do these deals in small proporciona so we do not get in trouble, alright?.' I agreed with everything as I had taken note of what he would ask, for while these things are common I can only get so much because it gets suspicious. 'Anything else though?' I asked hoping that he ask for something else (hoping he would ask for something much easier to get). 'I would like to know before we make it official.'
The orc thought about it for a few seconds and then his eyes life red up. 'Actually, yes. Sweets. Human sweets. From the sweet section of your menu. You humans can make everything taste sweet, something we orcs cannot do. And believe me, getting an orc kid to shut up with a small candy is worth A LOT.' He assured me.
I smiled knowing what he meant. 'Sound good to me!' I added everything in a pair of contracts. 'Look my dear merchant ally, I can definetely get you some of these things, especially the sweets, buuuut, it might be hard for me to do this and NOT get suspicious glances from other people, which is why I can only start giving small portions of the four items you ask at the start.' I explained things to him. 'I would rather have a small and constant exchanges rather than have a huge scandal that gets me investigated by the monarchy, or worse, the church.'
The orc thought about it and nodded. 'Sounds about right. I believe I am starting to like better, "open arms," it is better than nothing.' He agreed. 'I'll get enough to sell and use, and you'll not bring suspicious looks from other humans. I like this kind of deal, unlike the other deals I had with humans.'
I nodded with approval. 'Here. You sign here, here and here.' I pointed to where he had to sign in both papers.
He took a type of rock from his belt and draw two axes in each side and a double line between them in each sign. Well, the goblins have their seals, so, those must be the way the orcs sign things. I smiled at that. I then gave one of the contracts to him. 'Here this is yours. With this, no one can scam you or me about knowing each one of us, and try to get information out of us. But, please, make sure it does not get wet, burned or pigmented with anything, for doing so, the deal loses its value and, in the worse case scenario, the deal burns out as well.' I explained the reason for both contracts. 'Understood?'
The orc looked down at the paper and then stuffed it carefully inside a leather case for knives. 'Lady "open arms," no orc or merchant who values their name would break a deal like this. Not even me.' He assured me "punching" chest.
I smiled and then showing him to the door.