Might as Well

Sam was stumped.

His inherited memories had no mention of either Darell Mathews or Glorious Artefacts. His current memories told him that the Mathews family dealt with bespoke industrial equipment. Anything from tricky tools for the food industry to super secret military projects. The only reason he even knew that much was that the family created a pretty fun TV show where amateur inventors could showcase their creations. It was half reality TV and half contest.

He liked to watch it when decompressing, as there were some wacky participants while also being oddly wholesome, as the contestants supported each other.

As for the guild, he was drawing a blank.

However, he couldn’t really show that on his face thus he cocked an eyebrow while glancing around. Spotting an arrangement of sofas and other implements of comfortable sitting – conveniently near the table containing even more sweets – he motioned toward it.

“Well met, Mister Mathews! How about we take a seat for this conversation?” he asked.

Darell let out a relieved sigh and nodded. “That’d be agreeable…”

Thus, the small group with Sam and Darell at the head, walked over to the seating arrangements. Katie instantly claimed an entire platter of bite-sized cakes then sat down next to Isabella on the loveseat, looking like somebody who was about to enjoy their favorite show. Isabella just exasperatedly snagged a cookie from the tray but otherwise stayed silent. Though, Sam expected that later she would interrogate him.

Lara elegantly sat next to him on the sofa – though leaving enough space between them not to cause any misunderstandings – opposite of Darrel who was starting to look less and less composed.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands.

“Well, Mister Mathews, how can I and by extension, the AFK company help you?”

Darell swallowed, glanced at Katie and Isabella who were munching on cookies and cakes as if they were popcorn, then at Lara who returned the look with an imperious stare before returning his attention to Sam.

“Well, as you know Glorious Artefacts is one of the bigger enchanter guilds in the Emerald Kingdom.” Sam actually didn’t know that. “But what you might not know is that operating a guild in the game was a task set by the head of the family to see the worth of the next generation. Not to see who should be the heir, of course!” he added hastily. “Instead, the head wanted to see us show off our knowledge in management and economics.”

Sam nodded wisely and motioned for the man to continue.

Said man took a deep breath and did so.

“I set up the Glorious Artefact as I’m not the best at fighting or strategies, thus operating a mercenary outfit was out for me, to conquer the economy through the power of high-quality products.”

“Something that your family is known for…” Sam interjected softly.

“Exactly!” the man exclaimed pointing at Sam. “Well that was the plan…”

“And it went wrong somehow?”

Darell shook his head. “No. The exact opposite. We have so many commissions that we had to increase our prices. And the clients were happy about it! Happy! Can you believe it?”

Lara nodded in understanding while Sam eyed the man. At first, he suspected it would be one of the tropes playing around, but now he wasn’t sure anymore.

“Congratulations, I suppose? But I’m sure you didn’t approach me to boast about the success of your enterprise,” he told the man and then watched as Darell hung his head hearing it.

“Indeed… I’m here because you’re my last hope.”

“Now that’s something familiar,” Sam replied with a smile. “How can I help you, Mister Mathews?”

Darell looked up then away, staring out of one of the ceiling-height windows showcasing the well-cared-for garden.

“With all these commissions we need a lot of raw materials. A lot. But to buy more you need noble connections as the merchants charge out of the wazoo for wholesale amounts.”

“They indeed do that.”

“Yeah… so one of my relatives managed to get one.”

“And they want to take over your guild?”

“Naturally…” Darell replied morosely. “That’s why I went around to see who also had one of those connections.”

“And you found us…”

“I mean… it’s not like your existence is a secret. There are entire forums dedicated to following your actions and predicting the next best thing.”

Sam smirked. “I know.”

Darell stared at him for a second then snorted. “Of course, you know about it. After all, Solar knows everything…” he finished the sentence a little sarcastically.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “What?”

Darell just smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s just something that people say as you’re rather famous for being able to answer any question about the game…”

Sam thought about it for a moment before nodding. “Better than having a stupid nickname…”

“I suppose…” Darell agreed with him. “So…what do you think?”

Sam leaned back on the sofa and sent a glance at Lara who nodded while barely moving.

“Well, first of all, what are you offering?”

Darell looked back at him with hope.

“Well, I was hoping to strike a deal for bulk purchasing raw materials.”

“What about retaliation from your relative?”

Darell opened his mouth then closed it before letting out a sigh. “Right. That idiot would surely try something.”

“Even against us?”

“I mentioned that I’m not great at strategies, right?” Darell replied with a wry smile. “He is even worse…”

‘Well, that’ll give Lucy a few more gray hairs…’ Sam mused.

“So you need defenses for your guild, yes?”

“Yes…” Darell admitted sadly. “So far we managed to keep ourselves safe but I’m pretty sure that my relative can pay people who would be willing to ignore the reputation of our clients.”

“There are always people like that…”

Darell took a moment of silence before looking directly into Sam’s eyes. “And what is your counteroffer?”

Sam smiled. It was not a nice smile. In the background, Katie began to cackle before Isabella shushed her.

“Join as a subsidiary. Separate so that you can prove to your family how great you are. We take over the security, supply chain and give you slots in our markets.”

Darell stayed silent, contemplating the offer. Sam was also thinking about it. Now that he knew why he had no inherited memories of the guild – clearly the relative had gobbled it up – he was much more calm.

An enchanting guild was exactly what the doctor ordered. He would start them as a subsidiary and then have Lucy work her magic. Bamm, they had a support structure for Liz to realize her more ambitious projects. Granted, first, they would need to vet the guild, but raw materials were basically free at their level. Sam felt it was worth the risk.

And if it turned out to be a Trojan horse then they had the playbook for that scenario too. Honestly, he kind of wanted to see that and watch Tim flex his security skills while Lucy destroyed them.

After a minute of complete silence, Darell let out a final sigh.

“Alright, that seems to be the best I could get… here is my contact info. Send over the contract and I will have my people check it out…” he replied looking slightly defeated as he handed over a card. Then before Sam could speak up he stood up and hurried away.

Sam exchanged a look with Lara and she just smiled happily.

“Why are you happy?”

She let out a small gasp.

“You didn’t know? Will wonders never cease?” she exclaimed as Katie sniggered off to the side. “Darell Mathews is an engineering genius. He had dozens of patents by the time he finished high school.”

“Huh…” Sam shrugged. “I just like the TV show they make…”

Lara narrowed her eyes seemingly trying to decide if he was lying and covering up his lack of knowledge or telling the truth.

However, before she could voice her thoughts, they were distracted by some angry shouting coming from a nearby hall.

“That’s the room where Father had some pods set up!” Katie exclaimed as she stood up, raining crumbs everywhere. “Let’s go!”

The hall was lined with top-of-the-line pods, surrounded by banks of equipment, technicians, and servants. There were also some great screens around the room, allowing people to watch those who were in the game. Sam could spot some PvP matches as well as a few people displaying their gains from the auction.

However, most of the attention was on one young man who was currently clambering out of their pod, the servant next to them was sent to the ground while the young man kept yelling.

“You fucking cheat! That was not a quest item!”

Another young man was standing not far away and laughing so hard they were clutching their stomach.

“I died! Do you hear me? I picked up that stupid vase and it killed me! Who is going to reimburse me?”

The laughing young man managed to get himself under control to answer. “You bought it. No takebacks!”

The first man let out an inarticulate yell and turned toward the servant who just managed to pick himself up from the ground. He grabbed the man and shook him. Sam saw several more servants, significantly more muscled head toward them.

Katie as expected had her hands in fists and was chanting: “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Isabella was holding onto her shoulder. Sam thought it was wise.

“Sir! The auction holds no responsibility for the items after the winner accepts them!” the servant cried out as he tried to pry himself out of the death grip.

Several people sprang forward and tried to assist one of the people embroiled in the tussle.

Sam saw several more people move forward or start laughing and chuckled.

“Come on, guys. Let’s leave before the party starts…”

Lara once again linked her arms with his while Katie and Isabella followed them.

“Can we get ice cream?” Katie asked excitedly as they ignored the sounds of chaos behind them.

“I hate you!”

“No, you don’t,” Sam replied to a glaring Lucy who was staring at him, sitting on his sofa.

“Yes, I do,”

After they returned from a quick ice cream trip, Sam didn’t even wait a second to explain what happened, while Lara left to link up with Dan. Lucy was aware of most of it, as some chronically online people who were present at the auction live commented on the entire thing.

And the fight that happened after it…

But Lucy found his negotiations more important.

“Sam, what the hell am I going to do with an entire enchanter guild?”

“Vet them, then set them up in the fortress with Lara and send Liz over. Then profit?”

Lucy looked like she wanted to say a lot of things before taking a deep breath and then letting it out.

“I hate when you dump things on me without any warning…” she complained.

Sam shrugged. “It’s not like I planned this…”

“And what does it say about you that it’s very hard to believe you?”

“Now, that’s just mean…”

“Suck it up and start explaining your plan!”

Sam got off Lucky’s back and stepped forward until he reached the edge of the cliff they arrived at. Behind them was a forest trying its best to thrive and before them the beginnings of a savannah, populated with parse copses of trees with yellowing grass everywhere.

He could already feel the sun heating the air around him with a trickle of digitally recreated sweat falling from his forehead.

With a quiet curse, he stepped back and began to retrieve his desert gear.

He wouldn’t really need it at the beginning, but better to be prepared. Plus, it was better to try it out in a less intense situation than the real desert.

Sam had a feeling he wouldn’t have much time to safely and peacefully practice with his equipment.

According to the forums, there were already several villages that were taken over by the blood mage army.

‘They’re probably starting to set up the logistics for the invasion…’ he mused.

Flipping his hood up and lowering his goggles – that came with night vision, heat vision, and pink vision when he felt a little sad – he patted Lucky on his head.

“Come, friend. Let us step on the road of adventure once again…”