5.05 – The Tent

Sabina led them into her laboratory, where she dragged out and set up a few foldable metal chairs. It wasn’t the most professional environment, but Adrienne didn’t seem bothered. Her attention seemed mostly focused on the organized clutter of Sabina’s laboratory. She peered around at the alchemy reagents, potions, and other paraphernalia with plain interest.

Zoey wondered how intriguing the magical craftsman professions were to normal civilians. She knew they wouldn’t find it as amazing as Zoey, who had grown up in a world without magic, but Zoey also got the impression stuff like alchemy was a field that only wayfarers were significantly occupied with, and that magical fields didn’t have huge prevalence in everyday life. Maybe more in a big Fractures city like Treyhull, but still not totally mundane.

Settling down into the chairs, the interview began in earnest.

“Before we get started,” Sabina said, “we should clarify exactly what this opportunity is. There was only so much I was willing to share through a messenger.”

“Setting up a potion stand in the red light district,” Adrienne said. “I can sort of infer what that means. But I’ll admit, I’m curious about the details.”

So Adrienne hadn’t received the full picture, as Zoey had been wondering about. Though, the woman had put two and two together. It would have been hard not to, she supposed.

“It’s what you’d guess,” Zoey said. “We don’t have a huge selection, but that doesn’t really matter. We’re pretty sure it’s not available anywhere else,” in fact, from what Sabina had said, Zoey’s specialty might be unique to the entire world, “and so we don’t think there’ll be a problem in turning a profit.”

“Can I ask what, specifically?”

Zoey shared a look with Sabina, who shrugged. She turned back forward. “Well,” Zoey said. “We’ve got aphrodisiacs, sensitivity enhancers, infertility potions, and the opposite, fertility increasers. To name a few. There’s lots of others.”

Adrienne’s eyes widened with each successive word, and she was leaning forward in her chair, eyebrows raised by the time Zoey finished listing off her even shortened account of their stock.

“Wow,” Adrienne said. “And how strong are they?”

“Pretty strong,” Zoey said. “They’ll be popular. Sabina’s working on improving the recipe, and also breaking them down into tiers of varying intensity. Because the strongest are already pretty crazy.” At least, from what Sabina said. Zoey had unfortunately not had much time to experiment herself.

“Wow,” Adrienne repeated.

“And there’s stranger potions, too,” Zoey said. “There’s one in particular we think is going to sell out in record time.”

“Oh?” Adrienne was visibly hanging on Zoey’s words, not having to fake interest in the subject. Zoey’s suspicion that the brunette would be interested in this business had quickly been confirmed. Not that she’d had many doubts.

As for the potion she mentioned … she coughed. “It grows a cock. On a woman. Fully functional, works like it ought to, pretty much indistinguishable from the real thing.”

Adrienne paused, then blinked. She returned to her normal sitting position, seeming almost taken aback. Zoey was pretty sure that was from sheer strangeness, not disinterest.

“Huh?”

“Yeah,” Zoey said. “Definitely one of our more exciting potions.”

Slowly, Adrienne’s expression morphed into a sort of delighted incredulity. “And it works on anyone?”

“It does. Or, at least, we think so.”

“That’s … incredible? Oh my gods.” Adrienne shook her head. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. You two are going to be carting money around in wheelbarrows. How?”

“How we made it?”

“Yeah.”

“Business secret?”

Adrienne wasn’t put off by that response. “That’s fair. But, wow. That’s seriously crazy.”

“Yeah. It is. Anyway, we just wanted to make sure you had the full picture. It’d be a bit awkward if you weren’t comfortable with it. Because we’re looking for someone to handle most of the stand, not just the finances portion. We know you work in accounting, but we’re looking for someone to handle the business in general, sales included.”

Adrienne nodded eagerly, auburn ringlets bouncing. “I can do that. I can definitely do that. Honestly, I was thinking of quitting even before this. Finding something more exciting.” She laughed. “And this is definitely more exciting.”

“There’s one more caveat. We’re probably not staying in Treyhull for long.”

“Moving somewhere else? Back up to Haven?”

“Mantle, actually.”

It was a somewhat sensitive topic, discussing a move from Striders territory to Deepshunters, so Zoey watched for any kind of worrying reaction. But Adrienne wasn’t perturbed in the slightest; she just nodded. Rosalie had said that highguild relations didn’t mean too much to civilians.

“I see,” Adrienne said. “For the better market? And you’re asking if I’d be willing to relocate, too, right?”

“That’s the plan,” Zoey said.

“Well, considering the opportunity, I could certainly be convinced. It depends on the details, of course. Hours, responsibilities, pay. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very interested, but my family relies on what I send back, so I can’t go around doing whatever I want.”

“It’s a strange job, needs you to move, and we’re also hoping for some discretion when it comes to the details of the business,” Zoey said. “More than that, we’re expecting to make decent returns. So we’d be happy to offer you what you’re worth.” She looked at Sabina; they had discussed this before hand.

Sabina nodded, then faced Adrienne and said a number which meant little to Zoey. By the way Adrienne’s eyes shot open, and almost full-on gaped at the alchemist, Zoey could tell it was a lot—more than Zoey had thought. She still didn’t have a great handle on this world’s economy. Rosalie had been handling most of their shopping, and likewise, Sabina the business details for this venture.

Adrienne recovered, though she blushed slightly at her reaction. “Well,” she said, “yes, that would be comfortably in my range. That more than works.”

As far as Zoey was concerned, that more or less concluded the discussion. Sabina, however, had a little more common sense, and she pressed Adrienne on her work experience and qualifications. Sabina came away from the exchange seeming satisfied, and after sharing a quick look with Zoey, Zoey could tell they were in accord. Adrienne had the job.

“The tent is set up,” Sabina said. “And I’m finishing labeling the first wave of merchandise and packing it. We should be ready as soon as tomorrow. Will you?”

That was, of course, another problem. It would probably be bad form for Adrienne to just abandon her previous job on so little notice.

Adrienne hesitated, then shrugged. “I don’t think my boss will be happy, but it’s not like I’m turning this down. He’s kind of an asshole, anyway.”

Zoey snorted at that, and Adrienne flashed a smile in return.

“We should show you around,” Sabina said. “The security measures, how to keep records, transactions. It’s not complicated, and I’ve organized the process into notes should you need them, but it’s still best we show you.”

“Sure,” Adrienne said.

A short trip through the city later, they arrived to Treyhull’s red light district. There wasn’t much activity, not even being noon yet. Most businesses were closed; such a district came alive in the evening at a minimum. That said, there were a few people wandering the streets, and not everything was closed; there was always patronage for brothels and such businesses, even if prime hours were later.

The marketplace Sabina led them to was somewhat busier, though still sparse. Tents and stalls crowded the street, lined in impromptu rows that Zoey suspected were frequently shifting. Not just the wares she’d expect to find in the red light district, there were tamer items on display: beauty products, perfumes, alcohol, clothing, and other such products.

Soon, Sabina had located their tent.

“We’ll need to set up the marketing material, as well,” Sabina commented. “Signage and such. Though word of mouth, I suspect, will get us far.”

“When you’re selling sex potions, I don’t think finding customers will be a problem,” Adrienne said wryly. “I’m kind of worried you’ll run out before the day is half over.” She shifted awkwardly. “I’ll still be paid a salary, if that’s the case?”

Zoey reassured her that she would. Adrienne would have a consistent income regardless of how fast their limited stock disappeared. They didn’t have cartloads of the potions, but Sabina was an effective alchemist, and she’d been working diligently at creating a comfortable stock. And the potions were expensive, anyway; they wouldn’t disappear if simply by the fact only wealthier clientele would be able to afford them. Regular folk could probably buy one or two as a special event, but Sabina knew the value of the rare items they intended to peddle and had priced them appropriately.

The inside of the tent was plain. There was a counter where Adrienne would handle transactions and a single rack for where potions would be stored, situated behind the counter. No frills.

“We’ll be leaving in a week, so it’s a minimalist set up,” Sabina said. “A test run, so to say.”

“More than enough,” Adrienne said, scanning the small interior of the tent. She didn’t seem put off by the somewhat cramped surroundings. She was just excited to be part of this, Zoey could tell—and only half for the impressive pay increase.

Sabina showed her around. Though plain-looking, running even a small store came with some overhead and administrative headaches. Sabina also demonstrated the security features—there was a magical glyph that set off an alarm on contact, which would alert guards to come running to the tent. A standard operating procedure for this world, Zoey could intuit.

Adrienne would store the majority of their stock in her inventory, pulling it out to refill the shelves when necessary. That took some trust on their part, since the brunette was carrying around a veritable pile of gold in the form of those potions, but she only had a portion of their total stock, so if she ran off with it, it wouldn’t be devastating.

Still, Zoey acknowledged she didn’t really know this woman in any meaningful capacity, and supposed being robbed was more than on the table. Zoey suspected Adrienne recognized a longer-term benefit to sticking around and joining the business in earnest, though, so she wasn’t too worried.

Once Adrienne had been shown around and briefed, Sabina passed off some documentation for her to read through, the details to how Sabina wanted her to run the tent. That done, they said their goodbyes and Adrienne departed.

Since it wasn’t quite time to head off and find Maddy, according to Zoey’s typical schedule, they headed back to Sabina’s shop. She could still get a few more lessons in. No point in being lazy. How else would she ever pass Sabina’s quizzes?