Chapter 10: Emporium-Emporium
Sunny was looking at a dazzling tapestry of a spellweave, rambling his head against the nonsense sight before his eyes. When he thought he got somewhere the logic of the spellweave was trailed to some end, and from then it couldn't be followed any further.
Sunny still remembered his idea to craft half a Memory, half an Echo. The Covetous Coffer possessed many characteristics that made it resemble an Echo. It could walk. It could eat, and attack on his own. Definition of life.
The most important factor, however, was that Coffer in his original form looked almost exactly like the mimic he defeated.
It was also the reason why Sunny couldn't fully understand the logic of the enchantment.
It didn't have so many of the mimic's abilities, just because of the enchantments. That would be absurd if it was possible to turn a chest, even a chest made of the finest grade of blessed steel into such a Memory. It was the mimic's shapeshifting qualities that made the Memory so adaptable.
No, the Covetous Coffer was a profound example of how an enchantment can influence only a very specific material, and it was even a better example of how well a soul can control a body if it's suitable. At the same time it was deceitful, vile, and perverse in its magnificence. Truly a Noctis' work.
After being banished from the Spell his goal has grown even more distant than before. At the time he turned Saint into Shadow the Spell created it without much action from Sunny. How is he supposed to do that on his own?
Despite Sunny feeling bad for his situation he still understood that he sincerely wants to make that Echo, and therefore he rejected the idea of giving up. He even felt himself more determined to create that Echo than before.
'I won't let fate defy my dreams so easily.'
Instead of directly pursuing the task of crafting a Shadow it was better to first understand the enchantments, especially the dimension it holds inside.
[Capacious Chest] enchantment had a very unique function that bounded the capacity of the chest to the size of its master's soul. But how does it work? Does it really turn the soul of the Master into a container for items? Sunny was against that theory for it lacked credibility. If the items were really stored in his soul, why by the end of the Second Nightmare so many items that he placed inside disappeared? Perhaps... the dimension inside the chest was outside Sunny's soul?
'Another hypothesis hard to verify.'
Sunny didn't hope to craft such a powerful Memory. For that he would have to acquire a material that could somewhat match the spatial characteristics of mimics, and manufacture it into a chest, which was beyond the skills of many experienced artisans.
Still there were various options worth giving a shot. In his mind he had a reduced version of the chest, one that wouldn't be any greater inside than outside, unrelated to the Soul Core in capacity, and meant for one, single purpose: To bind the space inside to the Memory as a whole.
In a way that would end up as a new enchantment. The instances of spatial storage were beyond rare among Masters. Among the Awakened even more. Effie with her enchanted bag at the Forgotten Shore was an incredible case that could stir up envy everywhere.
Of course, he had to solve various problems, in particular to make up for the gap that was bound to come out if he wanted to isolate just one function. The runes were closely tied to each other by hundreds of strings, and were weaved to endure the strain of the soul essence flowing only when together.
For Sunny... it was troublesome, but again it was not so special when compared to all his previous feats. Soon he was able to make a lesser version of the Covetous Coffer.
He called Aiko to show her his new item.
His manager looked more considerate these days. Her image took a transformation from a girl from managing some little shop into a look of a serious businesswoman that would go far to make the client satisfied, in a sharp way.
"What is my benevolent boss doing?"
Well, before Sunny she was rather on the servile side of things. The new influx of orders, and extended offer caused Brilliant Emporium to flourish like it never had been before. It gave Aiko a sense of accomplishment... and money.
"Do you still remember the time when the Brilliant Emporium was trading with the Chained Island?"
"Yes..."
From her voice Sunny could feel a note of uncertainty. He grinned on that.
From there the conversation had to be guided cautiously. Aiko still couldn't exactly remember Sunny as the man she used to know. If he implied that it was him who was handling that task back then, she would forget that he asked about the trading business. A little bit of deception was needed.
"Great, I have something to show you."
He summoned a freshly made chest.
"What is this?"
"It's a chest, a chest made of alloy. I turned it into a Memory"
He opened the chest and took out a package of sugar from it.
"Is that... what I think it is?"
Sunny nodded knowingly.
"I want you to reestablish the business you used to do back then. You'll be taking mundane luxury items, and moving them into Dream Realm, and taking Soul Shards to the Waking World. I can't do that myself for the reasons we both know well. How is that?"
Aiko looked at him, and at the chest, and asked curiously as if she wanted to imply something.
"How much did that box cost?"
"I made it so I guess I spent one awakened crystal, an alloy chest, and a ton of essence."
Aiko heard that, and facepalmed.
"What's wrong? Does it look so bad?"
Sunny frowned.
"Boss, you don't seem to understand the implications... By any chance, can't you make more of them?"
"Sure, Aiko, why?"
At this point Aiko was almost irritated. Instead of waiting patiently for his boss to figure it out she announced.
"Because with this..."
She pointed at the chest.
"we're gonna expand!"
Aiko started explaining her idea to Sunny. It was nice to make a chest for her that could let her carry things, and earn a little bit of money, but that idea had many limitations. She would spend time handling items for a little bit of money in Bastion.
But why do that if she can have Sunny make more chests? There weren't too many unaffiliated Awakened in the Dream Realm, but still they could be found basically everywhere. So, she thought, she could select some citadels, and find suitable Awakened in the NQSC, probably with weak aspects, hire them, and make them take care of the branches she would establish in the citadels.
For that purpose she can order customized chests that would be both elegant, and implying that Brilliant Emporium is the rightful owner. Once an item is turned into a Memory it becomes next to impossible to edit its form. If Sunny could add a name like [Brilliant Chest], and a proper description, he could to extend prevent other parties from taking over the chests.
By having vendors in many citadels they could establish a network that would take items from one citadel, then take them to another, making it possible for a sword to travel great distance. By using the difference of prices they could earn quite a lot of money.
...or that would be adequate if there was something like a stable price here in the first place. Masters, and Saints could take many things to the Dream Realm, but only by greater expenditure of the essence. Even if they could do that, they won't share the things they moved easily or cheaply.
Sunny at first had some problems accepting the idea to expand. Doing widespread operations would surely bring some attention to him. Even when he was Awakened, Tyris noticed his little business. But Saint Tyris was a nice, and honorable woman. What would happen if he launched a company that reaches many citadels? Noticed by everyone...
'But... is it really bad?'
What is the point of staying low? Is he suddenly scared of people? After living through so many horrors he would stop, because he's a little socially awkward? He refused to be this way.
"Let's do this Aiko."
"Really?"
"Yes, but I have a condition: I'll be providing spatial storages. You'll be managing that business. Is that fine?"
"More than fine. It's what I hoped for. It will be the most stable business to manage. I have a bad luck for my partners. The first one died. The second went to fight Nightmare Creatures. The third disappeared. That one will be still working even if you're not around anymore, and I start to think that you want it sometimes."
"So we can call it an agreement You can even take more profits for yourself. How about we split the profits fifty-fifty? Also... the name 'Brilliant Emporium' stays. No, that's not negotiable. Brilliant Emporium has to be brilliant after all."
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