The Dungeon Fairy: Two Choices: A Dungeon Core Escapade (The Hapless Dungeon Fairy Book 2) Jonathan Brooks (online e reader TXT) 📖

But that didn’t mean that the wealthy and well-connected Minister was without a weapon.

“No, I don’t have any!  Like I told you before, I’m all sold out.”  As soon as they walked into the busy Supply Store, they could see exactly why Atero, the traveling peddler who had offered to run their Store, had sent them a message.  A third of the supplies in the normally well-stocked shop were gone, and the rest were being steadily purchased by customers.  While he still had a few days’-worth of stock, from the conversation Sterge overheard, he was obviously out of a few specific things already.

“There you are!” Atero said, calling him and Gwenda over as soon as they walked through the door.  One of his assistants that he had needed to hire to keep up with demand took over the sales while he moved off to the side.

“What’s going on?” his best friend asked, thoroughly concerned now.  Sterge still couldn’t figure out why the former peddler was so distraught-looking – he was selling his goods at a brisk rate, after all.

“I haven’t received a delivery in days!  This is everything I have left, and I’m going to be out completely sooner rather than later.”  Atero waved his hands at the stock on his shelves, before he started to wring his hands nervously.

“Are they just delayed?” Gwenda asked.

“That’s what I thought at first, but one of my delivery contacts told me that all of their stock had been completely bought out.  I haven’t had a chance to communicate with any of the others, but I assume that they are running into the same problem,” the Storekeeper said, before he looked directly at Gwenda knowingly.  “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“Yes, I believe I do.  Come on, Sterge – let’s go.”

What’s going on?  He wanted to ask, but Gwenda strode away with a purpose once she exited the Store and it took some effort to keep up with her.  It wasn’t until they were passing through the perimeter of the Merchant encampment that he realized where they were going.

“Uh…why—?”

His question was answered soon after as Gwenda demanded to speak to the Minister, which happened quite quickly.  They were escorted to one of the larger wagons, where the important Merchant was outside relaxing in a fancy-looking lounge chair under an awning.

“Ah, hello, my friends!  What can I do for you today?” the smug-looking Elf asked.  Friends?  I’m not so sure about that.

“Why have you purchased all of the stock from our suppliers?” Gwenda demanded, crossing her arms over her chest in what Sterge instantly identified as her angry posture.  While he wasn’t the target of her anger, he still took an involuntary step to the side when he saw it.

“My dear, I have no idea what you are talking about.  All we’ve done is secure enough merchandise to ensure that we don’t run out anytime soon; we’ve been pretty busy, as you’ve no doubt seen.  Has there been an issue I should know about?”  The Minister seemed completely sincere in his question, as if he really didn’t have any idea what Gwenda was talking about.

“You’ve cut off all our deliveries as a result of your ‘securing’.  We are now nearly out of stock to sell to the Raiders here.”

The Minister frowned, as if this was news to him.  “I’m so sorry to hear that.  Are there no other suppliers you can go to?”

“No, there aren’t – and I’m sure you know that.  At least, none nearby; delivering supplies from further away will increase the expense exponentially.  Again, that’s probably something you’re more than aware of.”

“Yes, yes – it can get quite expensive.  That’s a shame.”  That was all he said as he looked at them with a blank expression on his face.

Finally, Gwenda couldn’t hold it in any longer.  “Take back the deal you had with our suppliers!” she yelled, before adding, “Please.”

He didn’t seem to be fazed by her outburst, but instead had been expecting it.  “I’m sorry, I can’t do that.  See, I’m a man of my word, and taking back my agreement with them would call into question any of my future dealings.”

When he didn’t say any more, Sterge and Gwenda waited for a moment before his best friend abruptly turned on her heel and marched away.  He was caught flat-footed and stumbled after her when she moved, but she fortunately didn’t get that far before the Minister called out, “But perhaps we can come to some sort of deal?”  Sterge looked back at him and the Merchant had a big smile on his face.

Gwenda was visibly reluctant to deal with the Minister, but without any other recourse she was trapped in a corner – and the smug Elf knew it.  The alternative would be to let the Merchants control all sales of supplies to the Raiders, and since there wasn’t any love lost between them, they could charge whatever they wanted.  The deal that Gwenda worked out with the Minister had them paying the Merchant as a sort of middleman, who charged them 25% more for each item than they normally paid through their usual suppliers.  It wasn’t as bad as he had feared, but it was still a shock; they would have to raise prices on everything as a result, but even Gwenda said it was better than the alternative.

“He’s a snake, but he’s smart.  Too darn smart, and with too much influence to combat at this point.  He could’ve charged us more, but he also knew that I might balk at too high of a price and try to work around him somehow.  This way, he gets to control all of the merchandise flowing through The Village no matter where it’s sold.  He may not have acquired the lease for this land, but he found a way around that,” Gwenda told him sourly as