Mix flour with water, throw in little pieces of octopus, press flat, cook—and voilà, octopus crackers. Astrid and the dwarf blacksmith had worked together to make a machine to press and cook them.
“Right, wanna learn how to make these?” Emily asked. The children all nodded eagerly. “Well, follow me! I’ll teach you how to use that gizmo.”
She strode away and the children ran after her, cheering.
Nina watched them go with a slightly weary smile.
“They’ve really taken a liking to Emily, haven’t they?”
“She is also a child, so they have a lot in common,” Tien replied.
“You’ve got such a good eye for people, don’t you?” Astrid said drily, and the three of them laughed. Then they followed after Emily.
Meanwhile, at the bathhouse, many of the Côte Sud locals were busy sweating and washing themselves clean.
“Ahh, there’s nuthin’ like a soak... Ever since this place dried up two years back I’ve dreamed o’ this bath so often I lost count.”
“You can say that again. Them city inventors and mages aren’t like the ones around here, eh?”
“If only we’d known, we coulda called ’em in sooner!”
The men all guffawed. Then—
“I never saw such a sorry bunch!”
There was a massive SPLOOSH as the dwarf blacksmith plunged into the bath.
“B-Boss? You ain’t talkin’ about us, are you?”
“Damn right I’m talkin’ to you! It’s been two long years since the spring dried up, but did any of you lift a finger to get it back? It took those girls—tourists! They used their brains and got to work. And now those same girls are holdin’ back from usin’ the bath so that us locals can have it to ourselves. We oughta be ashamed!”
The men all looked chastened. Eventually, one of them spoke up.
“But boss...life hasn’t been easy for us neither. To tell you the truth, I’ve got debts to pay. ’Course I cared about the bathhouse, but I could barely keep up with my own troubles. You’re lucky, y’know. Those girls came to you, so you got to help.”
There was a murmur of assent from several of the others.
The dwarf sighed heavily. “Aye, I’m the sorriest of the lot of us. I said the same as you—‘I’m too squeezed by these high taxes,’ ‘I wanna help but I’ve got my own troubles,’ that sorta thing. And y’know what they did? Offered to pay me fairly for my work—said they didn’t wanna be a bother or a burden on me.”
SPLASH! He slapped the surface of the water—hot spring water from deep beneath the earth. It was now clear of mud but still carried that distinctive odor.
“I’m ashamed... Ashamed o’ myself for gettin’ so caught up in myself I stopped seein’ the troubles o’ those around me.”
His voice trembled. The bathhouse fell totally silent.
After a pause, one of the men said, “Is there nuthin’ we can do?”
“We can’t do much alone, but maybe if we all pitched in, we could do sumthin’ to thank ’em.”
“That’s an idea...”
“I’ve got a big washing-up room you can use.”
“I’ve got... Lemme see... I could sort through the junk and see if there’s anything usable?”
“What’re we supposed to do with junk?”
“You tell me what anyone wants with a washing-up room!”
“What d’ya reckon those girls even need, anyway?”
Everyone began hemming and hawing as they pondered this.
The dwarf blinked. He began to chuckle, then broke out in a roar of laughter.
“Boss, you feelin’ all right? First you’re all weepy, now you’re laughin’ your head off...”
“I was never weepy, you bonehead! But you reminded me—those girls are tryin’ to teach those orphans in the forest all kinds o’ work.”
Everyone knew about the orphans in the forest, and now they remembered that, just like the bathhouse, they’d been too harried to worry about them.
“Seems like they’re teachin’ ’em how to make a living.”
“How are they doin’ that?”
“C’mon, there’s only one way to make money in this town—sellin’ to tourists.”
“But that ain’t easy, is it? Crime’s been up lately, and the tourists are all rich folk. They don’t come to this part o’ town.”
“Even so—sounds like those girls have a plan.”
“A plan...?”
The men exchanged glances. Normally, they wouldn’t have given the time of day to a bunch of girls with no life experience. But Nina and the others had proven themselves—with the revival of this very hot spring.
With another SPLASH, the dwarf stood up.
“Dependin’ on the plan, it might be that a washing-up room and junk could come in handy,” he said. “Me, I’m off to have a meeting with those girls. Anyone who wants to can follow me.”
There was a pause.
The men all exchanged glances again.
“I’m going.”
“Me too.”
“And me!”
One after another, they rose to their feet.
That day, almost none of the shops around town opened. This drew many complaints, at least until the locals learned what they were up to instead. Then they were delighted.
Five days passed. The tax inspector arrived dressed from head to toe in a forest green uniform despite the fact that the day was already scorching. He had a serious, pale face and was preternaturally tall, with narrow, catlike eyes that wouldn’t overlook a single small copper coin of tax revenue.
“W-We are honored to welcome you all the way from the capital!”
The first to welcome him were the heads of the five merchant houses who operated the large hotels in the town. They bowed their heads to the inspector as he stepped down from his carriage, his assistants at his heels. Ignoring the merchants completely, he briskly assigned each assistant the hotel they were to inspect.
“That will be all,” he told them. Only then did he turn his gaze to the merchants. “Have you prepared the documents as requested?”
“Yes, Inspector,” the five of them said in unison.
“Assuming that we locate no discrepancies in your accounting, we shall conclude our inspection by the end of tomorrow. If we do, however, it will upset our schedule, and you will face penalties commensurate with the offense.”
“U-Understood, Inspector. Will you take some time to recover from your long and arduous journey?”
“No need. We will sleep in our carriage. Do not bring us meals.”
“V-Very good, Inspector.”
All manner of bribery was useless with the tax inspectors, which was what made them so terrifying to the merchants. They rejected not only hospitality but even personal association. It wasn’t surprising that in the capital, it wasn’t white but rather forest green that they regarded as the ultimate symbol of purity.
The role of tax inspector at the Thundergard Accounting Bureau was one of the most prestigious career paths in civil service. After a rigorous education in the rooting out of corruption, they served as key state officials under the empress’s command. They were a species of person totally incomprehensible to merchants—and there was nothing so terrifying as what couldn’t be understood.
“I will make a tour of the town.”
The owner of the Golden Sunrise Resort raised his hand. “B-By your leave, Inspector, I shall accompany you!”
“I have no need of you.”
“But surely you’d find it convenient to have a local guide?”
The inspector fixed the merchant with a penetrating stare, but the man didn’t back down. He didn’t get to be head of a merchant house for nothing.
At last, the inspector said, “A cogent point. Come with me.”
“As you wish!”
The other merchants looked daggers at the man—he’d gotten the jump on them—but he was unfazed as he boarded the inspector’s carriage. It was cramped inside, and the seat cushions were thin. Almost at once, his bottom began to ache, and he wondered in astonishment whether they’d really come all the way from the capital like this. Not only that, but the inspector had said they slept in here. It was totally beyond comprehension.