Watching the group leave… I felt my toes scrunching up in my shoes.

What to do? And how to do it?

Tapping the railing of the banister, my mind whirled as I tried to think of a way to save ourselves from missing out on the massive profit just beyond our reach.

"Brandy."

Turning, I found Gerald. He stepped over, also glancing over the balcony as to watch the group leave. They were just now walking through the doors, leaving the Animalia Company proper and heading out into the street.

"It kind of went well. Kind of," I told him.

"I can tell. You're frustrated, but not because of failure. Why?" he asked.

I sighed and gestured at the doors below us. The ones they'd left out of were propped open, since the weather was nice and we now had full-time guards. We didn't need to close and lock doors anymore, at least not during business hours. "We don't have a ship. Not one that can do what they need or want. So as it stands we're going to miss out on the contract, unless I can come up with a six mast ship in the next three days," I said.

Gerald frowned at me. "Six…? That big? Really?" he asked.

"Really."

"Do… do they even make ships that big?" Gerald asked.

"I've only ever seen two. The Society has one, but it's on the western ocean. Unless it can fly we're not getting it here anytime soon," I said. It wasn't impossible to get to the inland sea from the western one, but it was a several month long journey. You had to sail around the land south, and then back up north through a series of channels and lakes. I wasn't even sure if a ship that size could make the journey.

"And… why not just a bunch of smaller ships?" he asked the obvious.

"They have the bones of a massive creature. Likely a monarch or something. Several of them are so long they won't fit on any smaller ship. In fact based off the numbers, I'm starting to doubt even a six-mast ship would be able to properly carry them," I said as I thought of their descriptions of the bones.

"Bones…? Of a monarch? You're kidding," Gerald said with a small whisper.

I sighed and shook my head as I watched Sofia and Magda walk out from a nearby hallway. They were talking quietly with each other, heading for another hallway. Likely to head to the bank.

Studying the two for a moment, I couldn't help but smile at the sight of them. They'd been good friends since they met all those years ago, it made me a little jealous.

Not that I wasn't friends with them too, and in fact I'd say I was closer to Sofia than Magda was… but…

Tapping the railing again, I tried to put aside the thought that I was too busy lately. When was the last time I had just… sat and had dinner with Sofia? Or tea? Or spent time with her, not because we were working but simply because I wanted to?

Years maybe.

"Brandy?"

Turning, I nodded. "We might have to pass on this. Which is too bad. They're willing to pay a fortune for the safe transport of those bones," I said.

"Where are they taking them? Here?"

"Some city up north. One I've heard of but never been to. I think one of the nobles up there wants to buy them, though why he doesn't have access to a big enough ship himself is another odd question concerning all this," I said.

Turning away from the balcony, I gestured for Gerald to follow me. We headed down the hallway, heading for his office. "And transport by land won't work?" he asked.

"I'm told they gave up on that idea. The main bones, the big ones, are too heavy to be carried by anything. They brought in over a hundred oxen and made some massive wagon-cart thing and it broke, I guess in the effort," I said.

"Sounds like they're more trouble than they're worth," Gerald decided.

I nodded. They were. But the money wasn't. That contract alone would fund our entire company for two years… that would be a great boon for us, and would give us the chance to expand sooner than planned… and…

Nearing Gerald's office, I slowed a bit as I realized the obvious solution.

"Gerald… where's Vim?" I asked.

"Hm? The protector should be in Telmik right now. Last update I got was about two weeks ago, and he was heading there," Gerald said.

Stolen novel; please report.

Which meant he could be in Telmik, but was likely also already back on the road. Heading off to wherever he was needed next.

Entering Gerald's office, I sat in one of his couches with a huff.

That meant Vim would likely not work. Even if I could get him to waste time on getting those bones, odds are I'd not be able to get him soon enough before some other group or company accepted the contract.

Unless they failed too. Those men hadn't said it, but something told me those oxen they had tried to use had not been theirs. Odds are they had reached out to another company, another guild, and their idea had failed… thus them coming here to Lumen. To search for another avenue.

Maybe I did have time. They told me I only had three days to agree to the contract, but that didn't mean another opportunity wouldn't present itself… nor did that mean I couldn't squirm my way into their coins another way.

What if I just made an agreement that I would help in say… a month's time, and if they still needed help by then I could be the one to take the contract?

By then I'd be able to at least speak with Vim. He frequented this town often enough nowadays, what with the wars and all. We were a good half-way point for him between the west and east. Plus he brought people here all the time, survivors and the displaced, since we had the resources to handle large numbers with ease and help them on their way to wherever they needed to go.

"What are you scheming, Brandy? If you plan on asking Vim for help, I don't think even he can make a boat that big in three days," Gerald said as he sat down at his desk.

"Rather than build a boat, I simply plan to ask him to carry them. I don't care how big those bones are, he can lift them. And in fact would probably know how to transport them safely too," I said.

"Well… maybe. Until he destroyed them, being monarch bones after all."

I flinched.

Woops.

Right.

Forgot all about that.

Groaning again, I reached up to rub my face. By the gods Vim was, like usual, more trouble than he was worth! How could I have forgotten his utter distaste for all things monarchs…?

Though it's not like I actually knew they were the bones of a monarch… I had simply assumed so, since I couldn't imagine anything else being big enough to leave such bones behind.

"Still, I wonder what one would do with such bones. Maybe medicine? Or some spell…?" Gerald wondered quietly as he went to rummaging through the papers on his desk. His reports were starting to pile up again.

Glancing at the dove, I wondered if it was time to find him an actual assistant. Not just some worker who came and went, but someone whose entire duties entailed helping him and only him.

Gerald was a great man. And I could ask for no better partner to run a business, since he was so good with numbers and an even better negotiator… but there was no denying that we were starting to get too big even for him.

But who could I ask…? They'd have to be a member. Undoubtedly. And in truth needed to be a non-human, so we could truly trust them and so they could understand our true ideals and purposes… but did we have anyone right now that would be able to do the job? We had nearly fifty non-human members here, but honestly most were like Sofia. They weren't stupid; they were just… not really suited for paperwork. Not this kind, at least.

"And now you look like you're hungry. What is it now?" Gerald asked.

"You haven't even looked at me. You're reading reports," I said. I'd been staring at him for some time, since I'd been pondering what to do with him.

"Fine. You sound hungry. Well?"

Smiling softly, I sighed at him. "We need more help. Your desk isn't the only one that is full of unread reports and unsigned documents," I said. My own wasn't as bad, but I wasn't so prideful as to not admit I too was noticing the extra work.

"Extra hands…" he mumbled as he went to signing a paper.

I nodded.

For a few moments we were quiet, and then after he finished with whatever document he had just signed he looked up at me and crossed his arms. "Maybe it's time we actually considered allowing humans to truly become a part of our workforce," he said.

"Not this again…" I groaned.

"What? It's true, Brandy. We hire them for the labor, and simple stuff, but maybe it's time we accept that we simply cannot keep expanding without the humans. In case you haven't noticed Brandy, but we've gone five years without a single new member. Five years. And in those five years, how much bigger have we gotten? How many more jobs? How many more revenue streams?" he asked as he gestured at the papers still littering his desk.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded. He was right, of course. As always.

We'd not had any new members join us. And it wasn't because we weren't inviting, or not a good place to live.

The world was dangerous today. There were wars. Chaos. Entire locations have been lost, and then there was even the whispering rumors of people wanting to leave the Society. We had a few here that had begun to voice the desire to go somewhere else, somewhere without any humans at all.

"I'm not saying we let them make any executive decisions… but even if we just hired a few dozen auditors and inventory takers, that alone would make a huge difference," Gerald said.

"And where will we find these humans?" I asked him.

"Telmik has been using humans since its inception. How do they do it?"

I blinked at that. "They… use faith, Gerald. Faith. We don't have that here."

"Not entirely, no…" he admitted. We had many members who, like me, were members of our religious order… but most weren't. And if we did start to use that, we'd just lose the members here that didn't wish to live near such faith. We'd trade one problem for another, barely worth it.

Sighing, I stood. "Let's both draft a few ideas and bounce them off each other. You're right, regrettably," I said.

"Mhm… let me know what your plan is for those bones. If you do request Vim's help, let me know so I can ask him for a few favors too."

I nodded as I left his office.

Time to go to the Bell Church. Whatever plans Gerald or I could think of for incorporating humans into our company would need time. Time we didn't have.

While I went and got a few more members for help, to help us through until we figured it out… maybe I could figure out how to get those bones without Vim.

Somehow.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.