"I guess so," Louie said. "Perhaps we'll need it sometime in the future."
I shrugged before putting it back in my inventory. "I'm sure you're right," I agreed, happy to have another useful magic item in my possession.
"Half-Celt," Rory said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "What do ye say we talk business? I don't think I'll be getting meself much sleep after all this."
"I don't think I will either," I agreed. "We've got two big issues, right?"
"Two?" Rory asked. "I wanted to talk about what we're going to do when the time comes to depart for Domhain."
I hadn't considered this would have been his only concern. Of course, I wanted to talk to him about making one of the crafters we'd hired responsible for fulfillment and overseeing of markets in other states.
The way he said it, however, made it sound a lot more permanent. Only then did it dawn on me that the only reason for him being involved in this business at all was to get back his hall. If we were to embark on this adventure, he'd have no more use for it, and even though the profits were great, I had no doubt he'd want to spend all of his time with his clan, rebuilding his hall.
"Look, we don't need to make any permanent decisions right now," I said and raised my hand to stop him from interrupting me. "If we... when we take back Adamant Hall, we can work things out. For now, let's just decide who's gonna run things while we're away."
"I'd rather talk things through now, half-Celt, but I understand that ye might be superstitious and don't want to jinx it. Me grandpa was like that, you know."
"It's not..." I said, and grimaced. "You know what, sure. Let's not jinx it. Who's gonna take care of business while we're gone though? Do we just put it in autopilot and deal with it afterward?"
"Lad, there's no way around it," Rory explained. "We let our crafters do their jobs and we just stop expanding in other states for now."
"That goes without saying," I agreed. As Rory and I spoke, Yelena had pulled a chair in front of the large window for Louie to sit on, and both of them sat looking at the park, completely oblivious to our conversation. "But what about changing prices and fixing things while we travel?"
"We don't need to be here to change prices and see to things, lad," he said, waving his DEM tablet. "We can do this anywhere. As long as yer guy clears our materials from the Cosmos, we're fine."
"Then what of New York?" I continued. "You're the main crafter here. Actually, this is the other thing I wanted to talk about. Abrathion was our only real competitor here and now that he's out, we've got the monopoly."
"Ye want to raise the prices, ye sneaky bastard?" he said with a grin.
"We don't need to undercut anyone anymore," I replied. "Everyone appreciates equilibrium in the market."
"And we appreciate bigger margins, right?" Rory asked.
"Hey, man," I said, faking being defensive about it, and started numbering my points with my fingers. "I gotta pay you back. I gotta get more enchantment scrolls. And I gotta start building my retirement place in Spain."
"Ye don't need to care about money anymore, Alex," he replied, and it struck me as odd that he used my name.
"Let me tell you something my old man used to say. Clear deals make for good friendships," I said, recounting the meaning of a Greek proverb my father loved. "I don't want money to change things. We're good."
"Then lemme tell ye something me old man used to say," he retorted and leaned closer to me. "When ye're gifted a hammer, ye either hammer a sword or ye hammer a nail. Ye don't look at the hammer for its beauty."
That doesn't even make sense. Of course, I didn't say anything but just nodded in understanding.
"What of New York, old man?" I pressed the question.
"We bring a couple more crafters in to handle the influx and ye can do whatever ye want with the pricing," he said finally.
"See. It wasn't that difficult," I said with a smile.
"Yes," he said, looking around. "So I guess that's taken care of."
"You can stay here if you like," I offered, seeing how reluctant he seemed to leave.
Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed Louie turn his ear toward us.
"We got enough space for everyone," I continued. "And I think Yelena is sticking around in fear of us leaving without her."
"You're good people, but I'm not risking my chance of missing a dragon fight," she said.
Come to think about it, I had no idea where she was from and where she'd go if she left. Viki had mentioned that village by the lake in Austria, but that sounded more like a place her ancestors hailed from rather than her home.
Since she wasn't trying to leave, I didn't want to just send her away. Her wanting to kill a dragon and go on an adventure with a group of strangers may have been anything but logical after losing her wife, but I wouldn't be fooled by it. I knew the pain and I'd do anything I could to make it easier for her.
"Yes, stay Rory," Louie said as he jumped off the chair and ran toward the dwarf. "We can get some bacon and you can drink more of that burning water."
"Shall I bring some ice cubes?" I asked.
"Alright then," he conceded. "But no ice for me."
"Are you one of those?" I teased, and turned to Yelena. "You want ice?"
"One of those?" Rory repeated, confused, as Yelena nodded.
"You know the type. 'The right way to drink whiskey is straight. No water or ice.'"
"Ah, I had an uncle like that," Rory replied, nodding. "Always busting our balls about how me generation doesn't know how to appreciate a good drink. Ye know
