“How’s it working for ya, skunk?” Will called out to ask Skunk and Alvin about the pressure washer. They were across the road working on the Saloon.

Will of course new to look, they’d stopped by to pick it up only a few minutes before and immediately got to work. He didn’t have the chance to head out with them because of how fast they left and the fact he was still walking around in his socks again.

“Oh, it’s workin’!” Skunk called out happily.

He wasn’t as methodical as Will had been but he was working his way across the decking in front of the large building. Occasionally spraying up the bottom of the wall under the front windows. Meanwhile, Alvin was busy moving a few benches and barrels out of the way while carefully watching the power washer. He’d seen enough of the hydrocutter to know it was dangerous.

Will watched them for a few minutes. Both to make sure they didn’t need any help with it and also to admire the cleaner decking that now matched the one in front of his own place. Although it was just a start, it would likely take more than a few days for it to be finished.

“Not bad for two dollars a day,” the brunette working girl that he’d met on his first day in town said as she stood outside and watched. She was either curious about it or just not willing to walk up the steps to the door with Skunk spraying every board in reach.

Will nodded but then looked at her after catching what she’d said.

“Two dollars?” he asked.

“Yup, that’s what the mayors chargin’. Said they can do it once in the mornin’ and once at night,” she made a face that made it sound like a deal. Which Will supposed it was, it would only be the third building in town to get a full exterior cleaning.

The issue of course was the price. He was making 50 cents per day and Skunk would be making 25… maybe 50, depending on if he was paid for both the morning and night cleaning session. He could understand charging a dollar a day if that were the case, just enough to cover the overhead.

But the mayor wasn’t charging that.

Will didn’t like that. It hadn’t been a part of the deal. Not to mention that it seemed really scummy to charge the business enough for a profit for the pleasure of having the deputies, who usually had nothing better to do, use Will’s property to provide the service. The Mayor and the town really had nothing to do with it.

Well, Will could see a ‘service fee’ from the business owners for the Mayors work in setting up a schedule or whatever he had. But not a 100% markup over the cost.

“Well, I’ve got to go to the town hall anyways,” Will said to himself, now annoyed. Even though he’d woken up in a pretty good mood after figuring out a way to get the self cleaning enchantment and the durability enchantment to both work on the same piece of clothing. He hadn’t actually started on Kate’s order yet due to it not feeling right doing a half ass job. Not just for Kate’s sake but it would be the first enchanted clothing he’d done. If it looked ugly as hell or shoddy in any way it wouldn’t really help with any future orders.

Still, he had a solid plan in place. He’d just have to practice his sewing a bit first. Maybe see if he could get a utility skill or something.

But now that mood was a bit ruined. So, Will watched Skunk finish up and confirmed with the deputy the price being charged when he took the wand back, Will trusted Skunk but he’d just lock it up until it was time to use it again.

After that, he marched straight towards the town hall. He needed to speak to Misses Gertrude, an elderly widow that worked in there as the Mayor’s secretary in a way. Skunk had explained it wasn’t actually her job, she was the town clerk, but she filled that role as well.

“Seem a lil red on the ears there, Will. Everything alright?” Skunk asked as he and Alvin tagged along.

“The mayor didn’t mention anything about charging people. It wasn’t part of the deal,” Will explained briefly.

“Well that’s not too bad… is it?” Skunk asked.

“Dunno, who do you think should be getting that money. The Mayor or me and you? It’s my wand and you’re doing the work,” Will pointed out and Skunk’s eyes popped open a bit like he hadn’t thought of it like that. Which to be fair he probably hadn’t. The look on his face when he arrived that morning wasn’t exactly one ready for problem solving. It was pure anticipation to use the power washer.

Will strode up the steps to the town hall two at a time. It was a large two story brick building accented with white stone on the corners with a stubby bell tower dead center of it. It was by far the nicest looking building in town, even with it being unwashed but that was largely to do with the architecture. It actually had some features designed specifically to be pleasing to the eye. The only other building on Main that had more than just a faux front wall to give it a flat roof appearance was the abandoned bank. Which went for the town in general as well.

“Good morning. Ah, Mrs Gertrude I assume?” Will asked as he walked into the two story tall atrium of the building and spotted a woman who was probably mid sixties sitting at a desk looking through some papers.

“Yes?” she asked when she looked up at Will, Skunk, and Alvin.

“How’s your day, Miss Gertrude?” Skunk said and nodded his head while Alvin just gave the woman he didn’t know a polite wave.

“Doing quite well. Thank you for asking Bartholomew. Now is there something I can help one of you boys with?” Gertrude was very soft spoken but her voice traveled at the same time. But it more than just gave off a kind, grandmotherly tone to her. The way she spoke showed that she was also educated. Which made sense considering she was in charge of the town’s records as the clerk.

“Ah… That would be me. Someone- Well, Skunk here told me that you might be able to make copies of this,” Will said as he pulled out the map but cringed slightly when he saw her shoot him a very grandmotherly look that said she didn’t approve of the nickname given to Skunk.

“Well, let me see…” she said, carefully setting her papers aside and looking over the map, “An old map of the mine?”

She looked up at Will and nodded after a second.

“I suppose you’re the one that claimed the old mining office. It’s yours to claim as well… It’s a bit more updated than the one we have here I think. When the veins went dry they didn’t bother to make changes to the ones we keep. Guess it was a lot of smaller tunnels that they didn’t feel the need to. Maybe they knew the mine was running dry. How many copies do you need?” Gertrude mused.

“I’m thinking, maybe 10 to start with,” Will answered. He wasn’t sure how many other Groups from the Union were coming but it seemed like a nice even number.

“Six bits for a copy. Or I could do five if you provide the paper,” Gertrude gave him a quote and It seemed more than fair to Will at 75 cents. He realized that he would be doing the same thing as the Mayor, taking her work and marking it up but he at least owned the original. Without it nothing would be made.

“That’s fair,” Will said and started digging in his pocket to pull out the payment. It wouldn’t be long until he’d be bartering with silver to pay for things but he had a lot of it. So he wasn’t too worried. He handed the cash over to her and she counted it and gave him a nod.

“Come by sometime this afternoon and I’ll have a couple of them made up for you,” Gertrude said with a soft smile.

“Oh, and also. Is Mayor Abdey in?” Will asked and she pointed to the hall leading into the western wing.

“Third door on the right.”

“Thank you,” Will said and started heading towards the office to deal with the other part of his visit to the center of the town’s government. Though he looked around the building as he did and wondered what all the rest of the space was used for during his brief walk. The atrium was a wide open space extending up from the center of the building with two sets of stairs leading up behind Gertrude’s desk leading to the second floor. Will obviously didn’t have any idea how the other three hallways were laid out but the one he was walking down had three doors leading to rooms at the front of the building and three going to the back. With the mayor having a corner office in the west wing. But 24 rooms seemed like a lot for such a small town.

Will approached the door and gave it a solid but polite knock. He waited for a second until he heard a voice call from the other side of the door instructing him that it was open.

“Miss Gertrude if- Oh, sorry. What can I do ya for, Mister Tempest,” Mayor Abdey asked while sitting behind his desk. Unlike Gertrude, he wasn’t working and seemed to be taking breakfast in his office.

“Just wondering if you have a moment to speak about the power washing wand?” Will asked. He was annoyed but he knew better than to air his grievance. You didn’t just walk into someone's office and start barking unless you had to. That situation had come up before but this was nothing like the past.

“Sure. Of course,” Mayor Abdey said and waved Will to come all the way in. Which he did and shut the door behind him, leaving the two deputies in the hallway. Neither seemed to want to enter, “Is there a problem?”

“In a way… Mayor, I was just informed that you’re selling the use of my wand,” Will said politely but firmly, “I wasn’t aware that would happen when we struck our deal. You didn’t mention it.”

“Ah…” Mayor Abdey remarked and leaned back in his chair. It was a tone that said that the Mayor had predicted the topic at hand, “So you wish to renegotiate. Mister Tempest, you must understand that the town is in need of costly improvements. A simple fee for cleaning up our local businesses won’t fully cover them of course but it will help.”

“What sort of improvements?” Will asked. He was curious about what the answer would be considering that the town had a policy of claiming buildings and fixing them up yourself. So it wasn’t improvements meant to restore the buildings. Besides that, the bridge was in good condition and the roads were just dirt. But so were the roads going through Deathbane Ranch despite the Landry's wealth and labor force.

“Well, among other things the first would be a defensive structure around the entrance of the mine- dungeon. It is a requirement of law from the federation to strictly control the comin’s and goin’s. Both to make sure only those that can handle the risks enter and to ensure the materials bein’ taken out are accounted for so they can be properly taxed. Don’t worry about you’re personal findin’s. There is a grace period for when a dungeon is first found,” the Mayor informed him. Will didn’t need his [Negotiation] Skill to tell him the last part was a ploy to make him feel indebted. Which was good considering it didn’t tell him much.

“So? You need to build a wall around the entrance?” Will asked. Strangely enough, he actually knew a bit about doing just that. A stone wall at least. He could probably figure out a wood one too fairly easily. Not that he was going to volunteer for the job.

“Among other things. Though it doesn’t have to be a wall around it. It can be a sturdy structure built over the entrance. As long as folk need to go through it to get inside,” Mayor Abdey explained.

“What other things?” Will asked. The building or wall made some sense, if the town was going to make money and grow off the dungeon it needed an income.

“Main Street needs repairs and I’d like to see it paved. The jail will have to be repaired inside. Repairs here to bring back certain services that closed down some years ago. You may not have noticed but the post office in the east wing hasn’t been used in some time and will likely need some cleanin’ and repairs. A new water tower eventually. Perhaps New docks for anything coming from Davenshire. Or a new bridge, it’s in good condition but it hardly has anyone goin’ across now. Then there-” the Mayor listed off.

“Sounds like a wish list,” Will interrupted. He wasn’t good with negotiations, they hadn’t been a part of his life before. His pay was his pay in the corps, before that his tuition was set, and the price was the price in any store he went into. But even Kate’s strong arm tactic was better than what the Mayor was pulling. At least Will had gotten something out of that and even though he had work to do, it was only two outfits, a pair of boots, and a saddle. Plus in hindsight, it seemed like a good deal. Will would have been severely limited with what he could do with his [Artificer] class using the basic kit.

“Perhaps but you must understand, Mister Tempest. You must spend money and put in the work to make money,” Mayor Abdey said. It was a common phrase on earth too but there was just one problem with it.

“But you’re not putting in the work. It’s my wand. You can’t do anything without it,” Will pointed out, “Is skunk getting paid for both shifts? Or are you just paying him two bits a day?”

“That was the agreement,” the Mayor said.

“No it wasn't? And neither was charging for the service that I’m basically providing,” Will countered. He’d raised his voice slightly but the Mayor didn’t react much more than shifting slightly in his chair, which could have just been him getting comfortable. Will tried to remember the exact wording of the deal they’d struck, “The deal was fifty cents per day for me for renting the wand and a couple bits for whoever’s doing the work. The way I see it they’re doing the work twice a day.”

Mayor Abdey nodded though he didn’t seem to be agreeing, just acknowledging the point, “How would you want to rectify this then?”

“Two bits per shift for the ones doing it and my rate increases to 1.25. The town gets two bits,” Will offered but quickly added, “If not I can just hire someone and sell the service myself.”

“We had a deal, Mister Tempest,” Mayor Abdey said but Will thought for a moment. It wasn’t exactly a contract they’d had. Nothing had been signed. So Will pulled out his truth coin and held it in his fingers.

“No, we didn’t, no contract. No deal,” Will said. He’d technically had agreed by saying ‘deal’ but from where he was from everything came in writing. He just didn’t think of it at that moment but then again he didn’t think the Mayor would take advantage of the situation like that.

Will was already doing the town a favor by even letting them use it to clean up. Not to mention with the Mayor's guilt trip list of things he wished to do, it’d barely be a drop in the bucket.

Mayor Abdey met Will’s eyes and Will felt a familiar tingle. One that he had only experienced with Kate so far. He didn’t like that part about her but she didn’t either and she was quick to realize that he was immune. The only other time he’d felt it was when she was dealing with a crowd he happened to be standing in. But now the Mayor was trying to use a Skill on him. He might really be looking out for the town’s interest but that didn’t mean Will had to like it. For one Will liked Kate, even if he wasn’t sure what they were. But also he had spent a bit more time on Cradus and was beginning to fully adjust to his new reality. Something he didn’t actually have going for him when Kate had used the Skill on him.

“Be reasonable, Mister Tempest. I’ll increase the deputies' pay by a bit per day and yours by two,” the Mayor counter offered and smiled politely.

“Skills like that don’t work on me,” Will informed him and watched the smile fade. He wasn’t going to say why they wouldn’t work but the Mayor must have expected him to cave and take the deal.

“Two bits per shift for them, a dollar twenty five for me,” Will restated his offer.

Mayor Abdey looked at him questioningly with more than a bit of annoyance on his face.

“You’re about to make a lot of money for Silverstead, Mayor,” Will pointed out and the Mayor looked out the window at the town and nodded. He pulled out a sheet of paper and started writing. It didn’t take long for him to finish and he passed the paper to Will who gave it a once over. He noticed that the Mayor had added a new detail. That the contract could be renegotiated or terminated if someone selling a similar service ended up in town but Will wasn’t too worried about that.

He accepted the pen and signed.

Utility skill leveled: Negotiation-Basic level 2

“How’d it-” Skunk started to ask but stopped when Will did a fist pump after the door closed. Will wasn’t to sure how things could have gone going in there or if he would be able to convince the mayor. Even with his annoyance and knowledge that he was in the right, most likely. He just didn’t have any experience in negotiating like that.

“You get fifty cents a day as long as you’re doing it in the morning and at night. And my fee just went up too,” Will said with a satisfied grin. It wasn’t a huge win getting an extra 75 cents a day but it was still a win. He’d take it.

It brought his mood back up and Will clapped Skunk on the shoulder and started heading out of the building. Maps were incoming, his rental fee was making him more profit. Almost enough to break even with feeding Void and himself as long as he bought food from the general store.

Now he just had to find Herald and see how much it would cost him to get a few sewing lessons and maybe discuss claiming his chunk of silver coins so he could get a few things for the shop. He really needed at least another chair, maybe a stool for behind the counter, and most importantly, he had to see how much it would cost to get a proper bed. Maybe a few other furniture items, cooking equipment, light crystals...

Not that Will would buy everything at once. But he had a wish list of his own.