Around that time, I noticed a pair of figures off in the distance, walking up into the highlands. Our house was the only landmark in the vicinity, so I immediately assumed they were some of our acquaintances, and as they drew closer, I was proven right. That said, they turned out to be a rather rare pair: For some reason, Fighsly and Misjantie the pine spirit were heading our way.
“Ah, hey! You all out for a walk? Good to see you, man,” said Misjantie.
“Boy, running up this hill would make for a pretty good lower body workout! It’s always nice to find ways to train that don’t cost anything,” said Fighsly in what I figured was the closest thing to a greeting I’d be getting from her.
“Okay, I get why Misjantie would be walking around here, but what about you, Fighsly?” I asked. “I don’t think there’s anything for you to make money off anywhere near here! Don’t tell me Beelzebub and the others are here, too?”
Misjantie had been running a nearby café called the House of the Pine Spirit since shortly before the most recent Dance Festival, so she was more or less a local at this point. I even saw her around when I went down into Flatta, every once in a while.
“Nah, I came here from the demon territories alone this time. She footed my travel bills,” Fighsly said as she pointed at Misjantie.
“Yeah, ’cause I heard if there’s one person who knows how to make money hand over fist, it’s a lady named Fighsly. I basically hired her as a consultant, man.”
“I went from being a dead broke slime to the manager of a training gym all on my own, after all! You might say sharing my wisdom’s my way of sharing the wealth!” Fighsly said with a smirk I found really irritating, for some reason.
She’s definitely charging for this, isn’t she? Not that there’s anything wrong with making money off your specialized skills, I guess, but still.
“Right. So I get why Fighsly’s in the area now, but why are you two up here? This isn’t the right direction to get to your café or your shrine, is it?”
If Fighsly was acting as a consultant for Misjantie, I would’ve expected her to head for one of the establishments the pine spirit ran. The shrine or the café would both make more sense as destinations than my house.
“Oh, we’re heading for the pine tree, man. Y’know, the big one that’s growing right by your house?” said Misjantie.
“Oh, right. The one you gave to me as a sapling, yeah.”
That sapling, which I’d planted beside my house, had grown into a tree so massive it served as a pretty good landmark. The remarkable thing, though, is I’d only planted it just recently. Misjantie had given it to me as a memento of a sisters’ wedding she’d officiated between Falfa and Shalsha, and it had grown into its full, massive form over the course of just three days. I was convinced she’d used some sort of pine spirit power to make it happen—it would’ve been a literal miracle for it to grow that quickly, otherwise.
“So what about that tree? How’s a pine tree supposed to do any business with you?” I asked.
Misjantie awkwardly broke eye contact. “Well, um… Y’see, we were thinking it’d be nice to plant some more trees and make a pine forest there, if that’s cool with you…? We thought if there was a pine forest with some real impact nearby, it could give all my other businesses a nice boost…”
I flashed Misjantie a bright, friendly smile and crossed my arms in front of my chest.
“Absolutely not!”
Oh, this was way too close… If I hadn’t caught them, they might’ve ruined my life of peace and tranquility. Being able to clearly say no is such an important skill at times like these…
“Huh? No?” repeated Misjantie. “But I thought we’d be able to turn it into a real tourist attraction, since it’s right by the house in the highlands and all…”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying no! I knew you were trying to profit off my fame! You’re not even trying to hide it!”
I’d figured they were going for something like that. Misjantie and Fighsly were hoping to pull us into their money-making scheme, whether we liked it or not.
“Look, you already have a café and a little shrine in the area! Plant your forest near one of those, okay? We have to actually live in this house, so it’d be inconvenient in all sorts of ways to have a store or whatever opening up right next to us!”
“Couldn’t you give it a little more thought, at least?” said Fighsly, rubbing her hands together hopefully as she tried to talk me into it.
You look more like a sleazy merchant than a martial artist right now, Fighsly.
“If everything goes well, we’ll even be willing to pay rent for the space!”
“I said no, and I mean it. And if you decide to plant your forest without my permission, I won’t hesitate to chop it down myself if it comes to that.”
I knew I had to draw a very clear line in the sand, and judging by the look of panic that came across Misjantie’s face when I brought up cutting down the trees, I had a feeling I’d done a good job of it.
“Oh, all right, then,” said Fighsly. “We’ll give up on this line of attack. These things never go well if you can’t get the locals’ permission, after all.”
Well, she backed down surprisingly easily. That’s nice, at least. Anyway, did she really expect to “get the locals’ permission” for this? Surely she didn’t think she could tell me she was planning on using my name and home for publicity and just get away with it?
My best guess was that Fighsly had known it was a doomed effort, but just didn’t care since it wasn’t really her problem. She’d get her consulting fee whether her plans worked out or not.