It was business as usual in the business district that was one river across the slums, though one tiny thing was different. Five witchers, one Zerrikanian lady, and Carl were standing right outside two empty shops. Their smiles were as bright as the sun that day.
One of the shops was bigger than the other. It was about the size of a regular inn, while the smaller one was enough to convert into a clothing store.
***
“Are you serious, lads? We own this now?”
“Yep. Here are the deeds. Doesn’t get more serious than this.” Serrit showed off the deeds to his colleague. Kantilla and Carl looked at them curiously.
Auckes happily went around the shops, knocking around. It was like he just saw an empty shop for the first time. He clicked his tongue. “This is the fanciest stretch of land in Novigrad. It’s gonna cost a boatload of crowns just to buy these shops.”
“Twenty thousand crowns, to be exact.” A smile curled Serrit’s lips. His voice was almost trembling with excitement. “And nobody would be so stupid as to sell it.”
This was the most popular stretch of land in the Northern Kingdom’s center of economy. Unless they were being stupid with operations, any moron could make money easily just by setting up shop here. The money they make would be enough to feed their families.
“They’re generous.” Auckes suddenly sighed. “I should have gone with you yesterday. We’d have been more persuasive. And perhaps we could have gotten more out of this deal. Like a third shop, perhaps. When that happens, I’m gonna quit taking requests. They’re nothing but filthy, life threatening problems. I’m running a shop instead.”
“What about the school’s revival?” Roy clenched his jaw and shot him a glare, though he was amused by the idea of Auckes being a shopkeeper.
“Doesn’t contradict the idea of running a shop,” Auckes retorted, cocking his eyebrow.
Everyone mused on it. Having a business didn’t contradict their goal of reviving their school. Instead, they would have a constant stream of funds going toward that goal.
The problem here was that witchers weren’t normally businessmen. Most witchers had no talent for business. All they ever did was follow the tradition of taking requests and killing monsters.
“Fate wants us to do this.” Auckes strode into the shop and spread his arms. He closed his eyes and spun around. I can smell the crowns. “We just landed ourselves two shops, and we have no idea what to do with the fortune we found. Until now. We can renovate these babies and set up shop right away.”
He turned his sights to Felix and thumped his chest confidently. “If you ask me, Felix, I say you should invest your share of the fortune in the shops. It’s gonna make you more coins than you can ever imagine.”
Felix cocked his eyebrow. He hesitated for a moment. Cats were humble witchers. They spent their lives taking requests, fighting monsters, and taking what life had to offer them. That was all.
They almost never ventured into any other fields of work. Is this investment really reliable? Especially when the guy who brought it up is the biggest braggart of the team? He looked at Carl, who was really dazed about everything. Should I do this for Carl? He was hesitant. “What kind of shop are we running? Do any of you even know how to run a shop?”
The witchers fell into silence.
“Any ideas, Kantilla?”
Kantilla scratched her head. She looked lost as well. Business was not part of her plan for the future. She had no idea how to run a store either. “A clothing store?”
The witchers vetoed that idea.
“I’ve actually thought about this…” Roy tossed a dried anchovy into his hood. He said, “Why don’t we make this smaller store into an apothecary’s shop? Potions are a lot easier to make compared to decoctions.”
Roy counted his fingers. “Ingredient purchasing, setting up the workstation, potion making… You’ve done all that for decades; you can practically do it with your eyes closed. There’s no need to even learn it all again.”
Besides, I recorded lots of potion recipes that remedy common ailments back in the academy. With the gang lords helping us, we don’t even have to worry about patent issues. On top of that, he had a trump card given to him by the genius alchemist, Kalkstein—the spirit potion. Or in simpler terms, liquid Viagra.
A while back, Roy and Felix made poor Carl take that potion with the pretext of toxicity endurance training. The effects were… exceptional. Carl felt what it was like to have a boner a few years before he was supposed to get his first one. And there were no side effects.
No matter the world, any potion that could strengthen that particular aspect of the body was a profitable item. Very profitable. And easy to make too. Moore and Susie could help with the simpler tasks. No longer would they have to work their backs off just to make a few crowns from selling vegetables.
“Good idea. Potionmaking is easy for us.”
“And there’s not much need for labor or logistics either. I think that’s doable.”
Everyone agreed. Felix was tempted to join. If they could open up this shop, he could train Carl’s alchemy right here.
“No objections? Then we’ve reached an agreement,” Letho announced. “The shop on the left is gonna be converted into an apothecary shop, and we’re hiring renovators this afternoon.”
“Once we calculate the total expenses…” Serrit said, “You can decide whether you want in or out, Felix. You’ll own no more than twenty percent of the shares, of course.”
“Sure. What are we gonna call the shop?”
“How about Gorthur Gvaed? To commemorate the fortress in the south,” Auckes suggested.
Felix had no objections, so the plans to renovate Gorthur Gvaed went underway. However, everyone had their own opinions on what should be done with the other shop.
The bard gulped. He chose his words carefully and suggested, “You have decent ideas, witchers. Why don’t… I mean, why don’t you mash them together and give it a little twist?”
“What are you trying to say, Dandelion?” The witchers set their gazes on him.
The bard froze for a moment and tried to put on the biggest smile he could muster. “How does a ballroom sound? You can drink, have fun, and even train in a ballroom.”
Priscilla pushed her hair away, and her eyes sparkled as well. She had always dreamed of having a place to perform.
“You can do all that in a ballroom?” Auckes was surprised.
“Yes. Well, an actual ballroom anyway. Nothing carnal involved. The customers are provided with a more luxurious experience in a ballroom.” Dandelion was trying to paint a pretty picture for the witchers. “There’s only gonna be weak alcohol involved. Something like wine. That’ll keep the patrons from getting too drunk and smashing things around, so to speak. And then we’ll start every session with a drama, keep things going with some wine, and end it with poetry. And a little dance before everyone retires for the night.” Dandelion smiled. He had a look of longing in his eyes. “That’s how the upper society enjoys life. If we can take that enjoyment and introduce it to the people, it’s going to be a hit. Guaranteed.”
“So that means my poems can finally see some use!” Auckes kept winking at Serrit.
Serrit sighed. “Fine. Wine is still technically alcohol. I guess we can go with a ballroom.” I’m the older sibling here. Just bear with it, Serrit.
“Hold it. Are you sure that’ll work?” Letho and Felix asked. “We’re monster killers, and you expect us to run a… a ballroom? Everyone’s going to laugh at us. You don’t see farmers running an opera theater.”
“More importantly, we don’t have time to run something this intricate.”
“Do not fret, witchers. If you think my idea works…” Dandelion put his hands in a prayer. He pleaded, “Priscilla and I are more than willing to run the show for you. You’ll get ninety percent of the profit. We only need enough to put food on the table. The contract will flesh this out.”
Priscilla was surprised. He’s dragging me into his mess again. But she couldn’t resist. Priscilla bit her lip and put her hands on her lower belly. There was trepidation and longing in her eyes. “If you give us a chance, we’ll prove that this is a profitable endeavor.”
“You’re only saying that because you two want to open up a ballroom. If we find out that you’re lying to us after we let you run the place, the consequences will be dire.”
“I would never try to cheat you out of your coins.” Dandelion stood up straighter. For once, he was being brave. “And I’m a resident of Novigrad. People know me, and as you can see, I’m just a frail little bard. I wouldn’t be able to escape even if I wanted to.”
“How much is this going to cost?”
“We’re going for the theater style when it comes to renovation, so that’ll probably take two thousand crowns. And then we’ll have to hire dancers and actors. That’ll cost…” He rubbed his chin and made the calculations in his head. “No less than four hundred crowns per month, but no more than five hundred. But I promise I’ll record every single expense. And you can audit it anytime you want. We’ll close up shop if we make a loss for three consecutive months. That’s a promise.”
Felix looked at Serrit. He made the calculations in his head, then he nodded. Both of them had no objections.
Letho sighed. “You took care of Moore and Susie in our absence, Priscilla. That’s a big help for the kid. I’ll grant you your wish.”
The bards were delighted. They stared at Roy. Now all they needed was his approval.
Roy thought this was a magical twist of events. What he did to Wiley inadvertently caused Dandelion to lose Rosemary and Thyme, but now these two came up to him and suggested converting this place into a ballroom. I wonder if fate decreed so. Well, he was more than happy to give Dandelion what he wanted. At least he and Priscilla would have a happy ending.
But ballrooms are frankly a new venture. Profit is uncertain. Time to sweeten the deal. “I have a condition.” Roy mused. “I don’t object to your idea, but you have to at least make a performance about witchers once a month. Poetry, drama, opera, you decide. But at least once every month. I don’t need you to praise witchers, but at least tell the people the truth. Tell them what witchers really are. You know what I mean, don’t you?”
Even if I lose this investment, the marketing alone would be well worth the coins. Novigrad is the trade center of the north. It affects the whole northern land. This is the best place to test out my theory.
Felix frowned. He had no idea what Roy was thinking. The Vipers, however, had a guess.
If they wanted to revive their school and take in new blood, turning the image of witchers around and breaking the ugly stereotypes were necessary. They must leave a good impression among the people.
Foltest refused to help them back in Vizima. They were willing to try it out again in Novigrad.
Dandelion and Priscilla exchanged a smile.
“Witchers, I promise I will create at least two new works every month to extol your virtues to the people. If everything goes well, I’ll put even more effort into it. The poems and scripts will be written by yours truly. They’ll be on par with that show in Vizima. The one they call Legend of the Sewer Butcher.”
Roy’s lips twitched. Can you give that a rest? He shook his head and held Priscilla’s hands. Then he patted Dandelion’s shoulder. “We can sign the agreement right away.”
He suddenly huddled closer to Dandelion and whispered, “Dandelion, you have to stop flirting around. And protect Priscilla. Do not let her get harmed, got it?”
“Huh?” Dandelion was a little confused. Did I break Priscilla’s heart before? Nah, not important. The ballroom takes precedence! “As you wish, witcher!” The bard held his chest and bowed.
“Once the ballroom opens up…” Roy looked at the couple. “I will be submitting a work of my own, and I would like Priscilla to present it. I look forward to a brilliant interpretation.”
“And I shall be waiting.” Priscilla bent her knees and nodded at the witchers.
***
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