"It's not what you can get me, but whom."

"I'd like to speak with your manager, please."

The woman's black furry cat-ears perked up in surprise, but she shrugged and disappeared into the back. Soon, a slightly shorter catwoman emerged.

"I'm Lucy, the innkeeper, here. Can I help you, sir?" She looked to be in her 40s, with a single white streak in her jet-black hair.

"Hello. My name is Shiroe, and I may have a business proposition for you. Out in front of your restaurant, a woman I don't know literally broke down into tears, and begged me to buy her a muffin. So I decided to come inside and see for myself what all the fuss was about. If it's as good as she suggested, I might just be interested in buying the recipe from you."

"I see. And you're not just buying the muffin for her to eat, correct? She's tried this before."

"Hmmm... What could I possibly say to convince you? On my honor, if you serve me a muffin, and it's as good as she says, I promise to eat the whole thing? No, even better-- regardless of whether I finish it, I promise I won't give her even a single crumb of it. How does that sound?"

The younger catwoman sneered, but the elder only smiled slightly. "I'd say that's a pretty reasonable assurance. Bring him a fresh one, Bella. And what will you have to drink with it? Blueberry tea?"

"Oh, whatever the local custom is," Shiroe said. "Ah, that said, do keep in mind that my long-term intention is to mass-produce these muffins. People would be eating them all over Tivera. I can't guarantee she won't buy one from me, at some point."

The inkeeper let out a chuckle. "That's an ambitious goal. Some would say unreasonably so. But what do I care if she buys them from you? I just want her out of our lives and away from my inn. She's nothing but trouble! Do you know she picked a bar brawl with a group of Rogues? Actual Rogue's Guild initiates! Three of them! One of them punched her in the back of the head, and she just kept swinging until they were all down!"

"Incredible. I suppose she could have been killed?"

"Well, not normally, no. Not in town, anyway. That's why you see all these strange fighting styles, in bar fights. All these pins and submission holds and dirty tricks. Anything that can incapacitate, distract, or demoralize, but is less likely to kill than fists. She took it too far when she threw the first punch. But the moment she steps outside of town? I wouldn't be surprised if those rogues went looking for a little payback."

"I see." Bella emerged from the kitchen carrying a loaded tray. "And are these the muffins in question?"

"Yes. Take your pick. And I believe I'll have one, too."

"Very nice! I have to admit, they smell delicious. Beautiful coloration. And they're so big, too!"

"Well, for half a silver, they'd better be."

"Ha ha. Yes, indeed. And, ah... how exactly do you make them so addictive? Some sort of magical process? Or is it a chemical concoction...?"

"Oh, no! There's no secret to that. It's just fresh cream, fresh butter, fresh flour, and sugar ground so finely it blows away on the wind if one should cough. Customer's choice of seasonings. Baked with love, of course."

"Of course. But I suppose the devil's in the details. I'll need exact measurements, oven temperatures, mixing techniques... I'm barely a novice in the kitchen, myself... but I do seem to recall that each minute detail has an impact on the final result."

"Oh, absolutely. Especially when it comes to baking. And we'll have all those details ready for you once payment is rendered. I can even train some of your chefs personally, for an additional fee."

"When the time comes, I may just take you up on that. We'll see. We'll negotiate payment once it's time to move forward on the brick-and-mortar side of things. In the meantime, I insist that you accept this full gold coin as gratuity, for taking the time out of your day to personally answer my questions."

"Oh, no, I wouldn't hear of it. Nine silver, three copper is your change, correct?" Shiroe sensed a layer of discomfort hidden beneath her smooth smile. Perhaps she felt that her time was worth more?

"It really is a shame about that woman out front. You say she's done this before?"

"Multiple times. We've tried asking the town guard for help, but the most they can do is station a guardsman outside the inn. She just moves her operation down the street. Apparently, even she isn't dumb enough to pick a fight with the town guard over a muffin." Or, perhaps she actually respected the town guard? Shiroe chose not to contradict the innkeeper.

"And what would you say if someone could convince her not to come back here?"

The innkeeper stared at Shiroe for a long moment. Shiroe knew that look. She was sizing him up. Not just as a potential competitor or business partner, but as a potential threat.

"Peacefully, of course," Shiroe added with a sincere smile, but that didn't seem to help much.

"I would probably say that person could keep their gold coin, and if I don't see her again for a month, then they could have another one." Ah. So she thought he was extorting her. And she was starting the haggling at 1 gold per month? Interesting. Shiroe would have been insulted if he weren't Level 1, himself. He wondered if she could see his stats somehow, or if it was just customary to low-ball at the start of negotiations.

"Please don't misunderstand my intentions, ma'am. I meant it, when I said she was a stranger. But I was just thinking, if your account of the bar brawl is accurate, she's a competent fighter. Clearly she has time on her hands. Perhaps I could make use of her. Give her something better to do with her time than muffin-smuggling."

The woman scoffed. "Put her on the front lines."

A moment passed, during which Shiroe's eyes were unreadable.

"Wait, you're serious? That would be a huge mistake. I've seen her try to form a party when I was posting a bounty at the Adventurer's Guild. Other adventurers avoid her like the plague."

"Hmm. Interesting. Do you know the specifics of why?"

"I do not." Shiroe was visibly scheming at this point, and it was starting to make the innkeeper uncomfortable. "But you would do well not to associate with her!" Shiroe liked the note of pleading in her voice. It implied she viewed him as an underdog that she was trying to help.

"I'll see what I can do about her. No promises. I think I'll take my change now. Nine silver, three copper, wasn't it?"

"Oh no. If you're trying to give her a job, you've got your work cut out for you. I insist on you treating this meal as a free sample."

Shiroe considered a muffin and tea more of a snack than a meal, but on the other hand, it had been an unreasonably large muffin.

"That's very kind of you. It truly is the most delicious muffin I can ever recall eating."

Of course, given Shiroe's partial amnesia, that may not have been saying much.

But true to his word, he ate every crumb.