Entrepreneurship

Wow, she looks terrible. Seems like she’s burning the candle at both ends. Maybe a change of employment would help her.

New Quest: Open For Business
Pruzonia's got a lot of untapped resources ready to be employed, and where better to find people to get the ball rolling than the great bastion of capitalism, a mall.
Recruit people to either make use of Pruzonia's resources or bring their goods and services to the Kingdom.
Rewards contingent on who agrees to join and what their businesses are. Get at least three and Verida will be able to freely leave the boundary of the Kingdom.

‘We haven’t even introduced ourselves yet,’ John complained. ‘Just because she looks tired doesn’t mean she wants a new job.’

Listen, I don't want to wait around for the topic to come up. Entertain me, game boy.

John suppressed a groan and returned his attention to the likely proprietor of the shop. She didn’t seem to notice his sudden shift in focus, which lined up with Gaia’s assessment of her being overworked, and was jotting down the orders everyone else was giving. Everyone in his party saw the display appear, and Vivian quickly took the lead in the conversation, asking about what they had on the menu.

“And you, sir?” the presumed Jeri asked, her tired eyes finding John’s.

“Um,” John stalled, his eyes quickly scanning the menu boards on the wall behind the counter. “I’ll have a croissant and black tea.”

“Sugar? Cream?” she pressed almost robotically.

“A bit of sugar, no cream,” John answered.

Jeri nodded, then closed her little notebook. “Take any seats you want. Myself or Salem will be around with your order shortly.”

With that, she turned to prepare their drinks and food, leaving them to find a place to sit. A series of close tables served as that spot and they settled in quickly.

“So, what was that pop-up about?” Aeolia was the first to ask the question that most of them had. Anita looked between them, curiosity breaking through her grim contemplative expression.

“What’s a pop-up?” she asked.

“My powers give me displays that show info and give me quests,” John quietly explained, not wanting the intricacies of his powers getting overheard. “And I got a quest to look for people to come to Pruzonia to either bring business or begin extracting resources. And if we get at least three, Verida won’t be bound to the Kingdom anymore.”

Kiera perked up and John could pick out the smallest shift in her mana.

“Um, Verida just told me that G-Gaia had talked to her just before we got here,” the bluenette revealed. “And was teasing that quest.”

“Wait, so Gaia is keeping Verida from leaving?” Estelle remarked, leaning forward with a thoughtful expression on her face.

Kiera nodded. “S-she said something about wanting to make sure things were going along smoothly before letting her loose.”

“Seems a little harsh,” Brenda spoke up. “Verida’s lovely and I couldn’t see her causing a disruption.”

“Just showing up could have caused one,” Vivian interjected, a frown on her face. “We were lucky the Order is reasonable and plays things close to the chest. If other people found out about her running around, things could have gotten messy quickly.”

John noted that the redhead didn’t refer to Verida as a goddess and he felt that was a good idea. Saying there was one kicking about somewhere nearby would likely be as bad as her showing up and displaying her power. Giving her time to acclimate and learn a bit about the people around was probably a good idea. He couldn’t fault Gaia for putting limits on her, even if the silence over them was a little abrasive.

“So what do we have to do?” Beth asked. “Look for people with some kind of quest marker over their heads that shows they’re looking for work or an employer?”

“I wish,” John said with a dry chuckle. “Nothing about how we’re supposed to suss out who to talk to, so it looks like we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way.”

“I suppose this is my time to shine,” Vivian said with a grin, adjusting her glasses.

“Any of those guilds you reached out to ever get back to you?” Aeolia asked.

Vivian shook her head. “No. Though, given the position we’re now in, I don’t think any of them would have been a good fit. Not that they’re bad people, as far as I could tell, but…”

“They aren’t really the sort that would have some skill we could employ,” Senka surmised.

Vivian nodded. “Yeah. Maybe in time we could employ groups like them for something, but right now it sounds like we need people who can provide some immediate skill.”

“Like what?” Beth asked, a smirk growing on her lips. “Lumberjacks?”

“That’s not a bad idea. Thank you, Beth,” Vivian said, causing Beth to flush slightly. “There could be some trees with valuable or rare properties that could be profitable. We would need to make sure not to over do things. Even with magic, we don’t want to cut down huge swathes of the forest.”

“Verida’s thankful for that,” Kiera quietly relayed. “She’s not a fan of deforestation.”

“Are there some trees that fit the bill?” Estelle asked.

“Verida says there are,” Kiera answered. “M-my staff is made from one that was grown in an a-area rich in water mana, which makes it really easy to move my magic through it.”

Estelle hummed. “Cleo might be able to help. Plants are her thing.”

“She’s the one who made the slime, right?” John asked, just to make sure everyone was on the same page.

Estelle shifted in her seat, her cheeks growing ever so slightly red as she nodded. “Yes. She’s been researching plants since she was a kid, from what she’s told me and Nephele. Though, I’m not sure how versed she is on trees. She’s more about smaller plants. Her current obsession is algae based, remember.”

“So, if we’re to make the most of Pruzonia’s flora species, we may need two groups,” Vivian noted, quite literally as she had produced a notepad and pen from her personal pocket space. “One focused on smaller plants, things like crops and medicinal flowers, and one on lumber.”

“We can help with the crops,” Teri suggested. “Like, we aren’t experts in the sort of work needed for large scale farming, but we never really went hungry.”

“We certainly wouldn’t leave you out of the loop,” Vivian said, smiling at the goblin. “But we’d need more than just your people to reach the yields needed to both support the clan’s needs and produce a profit. And the people we might find may want to run things with just their workers. We can, of course, make employing whichever of your people want to work with them a condition, but that runs the risk of them turning us down.”

“There’s a lot of moving parts here,” Brenda remarked. “It would be best to keep things simple at the start. Let whoever we approach know we have some people who would like to join the operation and see where things go from there.”

Teri nodded. “That sounds fair. I’d have to bring up the idea to the clan in any case. The elders might want us to just focus on ourselves for now.”

“Which might not be a bad idea,” John added. “Not that we don’t want your help, but some time to really get settled in doesn’t sound bad, given everything that’s happened.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how most of them will react,” Teri confessed. “They were really happy after getting the loot so I don’t want to make it look like you guys are trying to **** work out of them.”

“That’s the last thing we want to do,” Vivian asserted. “If your clan wants to keep to themselves, we have no problem with that and will make sure anyone we develop a partnership with knows that you’re to be left alone.”

“Thanks, guys,” Teri said with a smile, her ears slightly wiggling.

“Sounds like you guys have a lot of work lined up,” Salem’s voice caused everyone to jolt from the sudden and unexpected interjection. John turned towards the sound of her voice, only to see a pair of disembodied lips and an ear, thin trails of black mist extending from them and leading back towards the kitchen.

“You’re spying on us?” Aeolia asked, her voice cold.

“Well, I was coming by to ask if you guys wanted the pastries you ordered to come with anything like butter or jam, but I couldn’t help but overhear,” Salem answered cheekily, her lips twisting into a grin. “You know, Jeri’s got a bit of a green thumb. She might be interested if you're looking for someone who’s into growing plants. She likes that better than running this place.”

Recalling the popup that appeared in tandem with the quest, along with Jeri’s overall tired appearance, John asked, “Is she pulling all-nighters to experiment with plants? She looked kind of tired.”

“Wow, you’re quick on the uptake,” Salem said before her smile faltered. “Jeri’s magic lets her grow plants, so most of the coffee we serve here is grown using her magic. And she’s a perfectionist, so she can’t just give them a nudge when it's needed. No, she needs to both grow the product and run this place every day. I don’t think she’s had more than a few hours of sleep a night in the last few weeks.”

“That’s not healthy at all,” Brenda remarked, aghast.

“Yeah,” Salem sighed. “I’ve tried to get her to slow down, but she’s stubborn. Great for getting my head out of my own ass, but not so much for her own health. But, I think if she’s got something that would let her focus on one thing, she’ll ease up a bit and actually take some time to relax.

“Anyway, just think about it, please,” she said. “And about the butter and jam?”

“Butter will be fine,” Brenda answered after a moment of checking.

“Great! Your order will be out in a minute,” Salem said, some of her cheer coming back before her lips and ear broke down into mist and quickly retreated.

“Well, that was unexpected,” Beth remarked in a flat tone. “Someone falling into our laps like this.”

“I did get the quest after properly meeting her,” John said. “Gaia might be pushing her as the ‘easy’ target here.”

“Easy might not be the right word to use,” Vivian cautioned, chewing on the end of her pen in thought. “Most obvious, yes, but if what Salem says is true, Jeri may be too stubborn to take up our offer. Or simply keep splitting her attention between work for us and the shop. And that is if her skills are ones we can make use of.”

“Well, even if Jeri is a bust, Cleo might be interested in joining,” Estelle interjected. “And Nephele and I can attest to her skill in botany and other plant-based magics.”

Out of the corner of his eye, John noticed that Jeri was coming out of the kitchen, their drinks upon a tray. Getting an idea, John opened his inventory and withdrew the jar of slime he was given.

“Do you think we have access to anything that might help your friend develop this project?” John said, winking at Estelle. “Got a copy as a reward and figured since we’re hashing out things we can do with our resources, this would be a good first project, I think.”

Estelle’s eyes widened as she caught on to his scheme and the witch flashed him a sly grin.

“We haven’t really explored what plants growing in the water might offer,” she replied. “That’s Cleo’s area of focus right now.”

As Jeri approached, John saw her eyes widen as she saw the jar of slime, her tired expression vanishing as curiosity overcame her weariness. But before she reached the table, she schooled her expression back into one more neutral and John had the sinking feeling that she wasn’t going to take the bait.

“Sorry about the wait,” Jeri apologetically said as she began to dole out their order, her eyes firmly avoiding the jar.

“Oh, it’s quite alright,” Estelle remarked, reaching over to adjust the slime jar’s position to make room for their drinks and pastries. “It wasn’t that long of a wait. Just the right amount of time to get nice and relaxed.”

Jeri smiled slightly. “I’m glad you’re finding things relaxing. Our aim is to make a good spot to rest after shopping.”

“I’d say you’re well on your way there,” Brenda chimed in. “It’s a nice place to kick back and chat.”

“Speaking of chatting,” Salem’s sudden voice caused nearly everyone to jump as she appeared behind Jeri.

“Salem, please stop doing that,” Jeri chidded her employee before the green-haired girl could continue her thought.

“Got to keep you awake somehow,” Salem quipped, a hint of resentment under her jovial tone. “Anyways, that’s an interesting jar of slime you got there. Looks like it's made of plants or something like that.”

“Salem,” Jeri hissed.

“Indeed it is,” Estelle said, seizing on the sharp-toothed girl’s opening. “A colleague of mine has been working on an algae-derived compound that can bolster mana inputs. Are either of you interested in that sort of thing?”

“Jeri sure is,” Salem threw her boss under the bus before the indigo-haired woman could speak, the greenette clapping her hand on Jeri’s shoulder. “Most of our brews are her creations.”

“Really?” Vivian got into the act, taking a sip of her coffee. “Hmm, certainly have the taste nailed down. This is excellent.”

Anita wasn’t able to contain her desire to try the coffee and quickly took a hearty gulp of her drink. Her eyes lit up and she began to guzzle it down. John guessed she finished about half before she set it down, her expression one of amazement.

“This is sooo good!” she gushed. “It’s sweet and warm and ummm!”

‘At least she’s feeling better,’ John thought as he brought his attention back to Jeri. Her expression lightened at Anita’s clear delight before a resigned look crossed her face.

“Alright, what’s the game here?” she asked in a clipped tone, an accusatory look in her eyes. “Trying to stake a claim on my work?”

“Nothing of the sort!” Vivian quickly attested.

“We've come into possession of a rather large barrier well suited for farming,” Senka chimed in. “And it was chance that led us here. And your employee that tipped us off to your talents.”

Jeri shot Salem a glare. “Salem, I've told you, I'm fine.”

The green-haired girl put up her hands defensively. “Thanks for throwing me under the bus,” she grumbled. “And you're not fine, Jer. I'm half worried you're going to whip up some kind of super bean to keep you going. And you seem happier when you're out growing than when you're in here. Always did. I remember having to drag you out of the barrier you set up around that old science lab at school.”

Jeri flushed and cast her gaze around the shop. None of the other patrons were paying them any attention, which seemed to ease the owner’s embarrassment somewhat.

“If I heard them out, will you drop the whole overworked thing?” Jeri asked Salem.

“I agree to a week,” Salem said with a grin. “Someone’s got to make sure you’re not going too hard.”

Jeri sighed. “Alright, I’ll hear you out. Whoever’s giving this pitch, follow me to the back. And bring that slime thing.”