Eve watched from the side in her rocking chair as three well-dressed individuals argued with Sara. Her eyes were closed, yet that hid nothing with the change to Celestial’s Five Senses. She petted one of the puppy pack leaders, Shadow, who watched the politics taking place a short distance away. The exponential growth of the village had resulted in some of the less savory elements of the Serpent Empire appearing over time in Glenwood. Rin and Ren had been placed in charge of the shop to free up Sara to handle the situation.

Currently, Eve had created a small gazebo filled with anti-espionage runes to the shop's side. It was full because of Eve and allowed her to practice her lip-reading should she so desire. Normally though, she just listened in on the conversation using Cube of Perception V and provided a silent backup for Sara.

The current meeting was between the three local criminal powers. Eve would privately admit to herself. She might have slightly underestimated civilization. The sheer amount of interaction made killing someone difficult. Not everyone was an Apothecary who could be removed without witnesses. However, the comforts she had come to enjoy were part and parcel of civilization. Being a hermit, while possible still, would be challenging to her sanity.

While their old competition had taken no preventative measures, the new problems weren’t so kind. Criminal organizations had at first sent feelers at the shop, which Eve had removed. Then there were attempts to kidnap the girls and puppies. This caused a sharp escalation in Eve’s response, namely a few dead kidnappers and three mulched assassins. Before things managed to spiral completely out of control, a meeting under truce was called.

The main issue in her mind was that Eve didn’t want to push the problem to where she was forced to relocate. However, she couldn’t roll over either because that wouldn’t end well. Celestial Mind and Sara had helped her steer the situation to this calmer alternative. Now, it was just a matter of her new servant handling the sale.

With the constant fighting to Level, the stress of hiding, and constant Profession training, Eve was growing strained. With that knowledge, Eve had taken steps on the path to stabilizing her stress. Having a Domain of Paper was rather relaxing in some ways. Origami provided the calming element Eve needed to keep from turning irritations into bloodbaths. Origami was actually one of the main reasons she hadn’t exterminated the criminal organizations by going straight into war mode. If she managed to get through today without removing anyone, it would be a good day.

Like any good criminal organization, to the three in Glenwood, profit was the key motivator for their presence today. Eve listened closely as Sara used her recent Class Evolutions to soft-sell the Bosses.

“Anything less than thirty percent is pointless to discuss,” Sara said, her tone smooth as Mudslide and All-Right flanked her. The white puppy sitting in her lap receiving petting was a blatant statement of power. Deep Forest Wolves were known by many to be difficult to tame or negotiate with, that Sara had two as guards said volumes. Their mere presence garnered respect from the three Bosses at the table, as evidenced by their expressions.

“The Wild Hunt, the Flock, and the Blood Snakes can’t produce my product. I know. I’ve seen the paltry imitation attempted. My alchemist is a once-in-a-thousand-year genius, and his product is the same.” Sara said before continuing, “Charles, the Wild Hunt needs my product because your own can’t meet the Combat Classer needs. Evan, the Flock, requires my product because your own raises the resistance too fast for Crafting Classers' sheep. Luke, the Blood Snakes, need my product because only we can package it for nobility without raising costs. I’m right, don’t bother denying it.”

Each of the men at the table grimaced as the truth was brutally applied, overshadowing even Sara’s new Charm Stat.

With the facts laid bare, Sara took a softer note, “Now, I’m not saying I have no desire to work with you. No, what I’m saying is anything less than thirty percent as a cut for me is non-negotiable. That’s a deal-breaker. It’s that simple.” Eve looked at how each man's clothing bore a crest, denoting clearly which organization they were a Boss in. Various parts of the suits all bore their different organizations' mark in a manner that didn’t arouse suspicion easily.

Perhaps I should look into creating a Crest of my own. Eve thought. Joining the criminal element could make hiding even easier in the future.

A slick older Serpent with only faint touches of scales upon his facial features moves to speak after glancing at the other two. Because the speaker was sitting in the middle, it appeared he had some modicum of sway over the other organizations. The speaker’s silk suit was custom-made with the inner lining woven with runic symbols linked to the crest of a bow, arrow, and beast over his heart. The same symbol appeared on a ring on his right hand, his cufflinks, and the tie pin he wore.

Eve took note that the middle speaker was the one with the most protections in place out of the three here. The Wild Hunt tattooed Charles's entire body with mystic symbols. His clothing was enchanted, and several knives were hidden about his person by the elderly Serpent. The older criminal carefully placed each knife to prevent restricting movement while simultaneously remaining difficult to spot. They were also enchanted, which meant they shined like beacons to Eve.

“Thirty percent is acceptable to the Wild Hunt. However, we will require that our product is thirty percent stronger than the other two here.” Charles, Boss of the Wild Hunt, said. His voice was commanding, a statement of fact, which made his position clear. He took a look at the wall of vines that had grown to encircle Eve’s house before saying, “In exchange, we will keep our suspicions about the nature of your Alchemist quiet. We will also ensure that most problems vanish like dew in the morning sun to prevent interruption of the product’s supply.”

Now that the oldest Boss has spoken, we should be in the clear. Eve thought. I shouldn’t need to do anything drastic now.

As if her thoughts summoned ill luck, the man representing the Blood Snakes, Luke, agreed to a similar deal. The Blood Snakes wanted the product delivered in wrapping that showed style, which wouldn’t be hard. However, the representative of the Flock, Evan, refused to deal at all.

“This product is groundbreaking! A drug that gives this level of bliss should be in the hands of real Alchemists, not some half-baked moron who got lucky mixing chemicals! While these two doddering ancients might be willing to cut a deal, the Flock will not!” Evan said firmly.

Sara sighed before saying, “Grandmother, my Skills are telling me there is no possibility of a deal with this one.”

All three men raised their eyebrows as Eve’s rocking chair slowly stopped rocking. Taking the cue, Shadow leaped down to scamper into the house. At the same time, Mudslide, All-Right, and Light vacated the gazebo as well. Charles reached for a hidden dagger unobtrusively, while Luke reinforced his body with some Spell.

Eve rose from her chair, her back straightening as her countenance shifted from a crone into a mature Serpent lady. The paper stick she used as a cane flew into her hand from where it sat by her chair. With a small effort of will, Eve floated gently above the ground before moving to loom behind Sara.

“This pathetic intimidation will no-” Evan said before Eve responded with, “Silence, worm. Your betters are talking.”

Eve watched as the idiot attempted to use some spatial escape artifact before she said, “This is my place of power, my home, my land, my Domain. Do you think you can come and leave as you wish, worm?”

Watching the younger Boss’s face pale, she turned to Charles and Luke, who represented the nobility and the Combat Classers in Glenwood. Taking a measure of their mettle, Eve said, “We accept the Wild Hunt and the Blood Snakes as partners. Unfortunately, it appears we are unable to come to terms with the Flock.”

“That is saddening, Grandmother,” Charles said, his body relaxed. The old rogue could clearly see where this was going. As he relaxed, Luke did as well, and both turned to stare at Evan in pity.

“We probably could have agreed with the Flock if their representative had made it to the meeting.” Eve said, her voice cold.

“Certainly.” Charles said with a grin.

“Most certainly.” Luke responded with a smirk.

“What are you babbling about, you senile old woman-” Evan managed to say, right before a paper box folded into existence around him. There was a soft squelching noise, and then the paper box compressed into a cube the size of a tennis ball.

Both men were extremely impressed when Eve made the cube vanish into her inventory since there was no hint of spatial energy manipulation.

“I hope both of you gentlemen can assist me in working with the Flock for mutual benefit?” Eve said as several Runic Paper Die appeared to orbit above her head like a crown.

Each of the living Bosses glanced at each other before both made a short nod to her. Eve liked working with competent people. Strangely enough, most criminals were competent. Of course, there were always outliers like the late Evan. Eve shrugged; as long as the other two Bosses backed up her story, it wouldn’t matter what the Flock claimed. No one would go to war for someone that wanted to stand in the way of massive profits. Whoever had supported Evan to appear as the candidate for negotiation would likely take a long vacation shortly.

Nodding to both Serpent men respectfully, Eve floated back to her rocking chair. Sitting down, she let her cane fetch up against the shop wall on her left before she gave a solid gimlet eye at the two bosses. Leaning back, Eve closed her eyes again and started rocking while listening as Sara pulled both men’s attention back to her.

“Grandmother handles problems, and in return, the Alchemist supplies her with pain medication and Blue Heaven.” Sara said as if Eve hadn’t just mulched one of the Bosses at the table. This spiel was blatant misdirection to explain why someone of her power was laying around such a place.

“I understand how some of our more misguided individuals vanished recently.” Charles said, shrugging, “This sad result is the cost of letting younger, rasher, and stupider people handle matters.” Luke nodded in agreement as he let the body reinforcement Skill he had been using drop.

“I have heard rumors from our network that the D.A.T. offices of the Empire might launch an investigation.” Luke volunteered.

Sara raised one eyebrow archly and said, “Glenwood is up to date on all their taxes. What possible business could they have with this place?”

Both of the Bosses laughed before Charles said, “No wonder! No village is ever up to date on their taxes. Ever.”

Well, shit. Eve thought. No good deed goes unpunished, dammit.

“I happen to have a report that might shed light on the situation, in return for a small favor in regards to how the product is packaged. I would also like to request that the strength of the product we receive be lowered as well. While a Combat Classer might handle it pure, we will need a few minor changes to our formula.” Luke said.

Sara glance back at Eve, and she signaled agreement to the deal. Kudzu would be able to handle the issues the Blood Snakes were concerned about easily. Doing so would not only cement our relationship but display the ease with which we operated. The worst fear of many drug dealers wasn’t clients. It was a lack of product or, even worse bad product.

Proving that we could handle things with power was something Eve displayed.

Proving we could handle things with finesse was something Sara displayed.

Proving we could provide on-the-spot changes to our product was something our Alchemist, Kudzu, would display.

Luke pulled a leather folder that smelled like exotic money from a spatial item before placing it down on the table. Sliding it over to Sara, he said, “The name of this individual is Andrew. His bodyguard is Marie. We expect them to reach Glenwood within the week. According to our sources, they are arriving from the Death and Taxes section of the Empire’s bureaucracy. Your product is very effective at making friends for the Blood Snakes, which gave us early warning.”

Sara glanced at two pictures before raising an eyebrow at Luke. In response to the unspoken question, he said, “Yes. He has two forms, one a Pure Serpent bloodline and the other a strong human bloodline. He can switch between both with ease.”

“His combat strength is pathetic, and this report even claims he’s a noted lecher?” Sara said, quickly flipping through the pages.

“Indeed. His strength lies in numbers like most of the Death and Tax bureaucratic arm. The bodyguard, however, is a bit of a problem.” Luke says with a shrug.

“Level One-Fifty? This is what you consider a problem?” Sara says, her tone amused.

Both men stiffen in their seats at the implication in her words.

“These are not a problem for Sara’s Serum, is there anything else?” Sara asks.

“No.” Charles replies, “The Wild Hunt looks forward to a profitable relationship. I will take my leave now if that everything is settled?”

Luke replies in the same vein, and both men depart out the gate in the vine wall after Sara nods.

At least a few issues were taken care of today. Eve thought. Now we need to wait for our future guests.

With the addition of the Cube of Perception V to her Celestial’s Five Senses, the folder's contents were arrayed before Eve. From what she could view, the issue appeared minor. Had this Andrew fellow shown up with no warning, it might have become a major problem. Now, however, the agreement with the criminal element was already showing dividends.

Sara moved to stand beside Eve's rocking chair before saying, “Should I deal with him? His file practically paints a portrait that is tailor-made for my new Class.”

Eve pauses her rocking chair to let Shadow sneak back into her lap before she replies, “There is no need to beguile a dead man. Contact our lawyers, and let them turn his life into a nightmare.”

Sara nods and says, “And the accountant?”

Eve’s body tensed in anger, “Idiots and traitors have only one end. Make sure Kudzu gets the husk for testing.”

“Excellent, I’ve wanted to test my Evolution!” Sara says with a smile.

With this, we should have even more cover. Eve thought. Given a few years, as Glenwood grows, we will become part of a bustling town’s background.

With a content, smile Eve starts petting Shadow once again. Only two hundred more Levels remain to her goal. The current pace of leveling has slowed down, and only by the time Glenwood is a bustling town does Eve expects to finish this leveling slog.