Silhouette

Surprisingly for James, everything had gone well.

It was now the morning after the grand opening of the Penumbral Palace, and everything was perfectly fine. He was enjoying spending time with the ratlings, helping them get ready for school since they finally would get to go starting the next week, and no new emergency had dropped on his lap. The team at the Shadow Den had successfully dealt with the horde of invading monsters and had already contacted Mesker to handle investigating the remains. They had achieved a perfect victory, and in the end, though James spent the rest of that day still hidden in the infused stone ground of his facility no other problem had arisen. Delegating was paying off.

At least spending all that time in matter gave him a reason to train, well, doing exactly that. He had already begun developing that habit some time ago while training in the sewers, discovering that with a lot of concentration, he could shift from one infused spot to the other so long as the two were connected. Moving in a mass of infused material without focusing on achieving this pseudo-teleportation was a lot closer to moving underwater, but spending an entire day testing this environment helped a lot. Well, underwater might not be the right word. In outer space perhaps? He'd never been there, but even then he knew it wasn't quite right. Weight and momentum were drastically different, initiating a movement was much harder than in normal conditions but at the same time once something was going it kept on going. It was hard to describe.

He wasn't close to as fast as he was when "teleporting", but he was faster than he was normally. Quickly moving through any place he owned would be done via his previous method, but this new one was much more effective when it came to combat. It didn't require to focus to the point of leaving an opening, for one. He could also still attack, though he needed to adjust everything to account for the shift in environment. More importantly, folks would have to be damaging the infused material he was hiding in to hurt him, and while people capable of easily breaking stones were a thing in this world, it still would trouble most. Especially in a place where everything was infused and connected...

The ringing of his phone put an end to James' wandering thoughts. The specific sound told him this was one of his employees, and while it wasn't the emergency alarm the fact they felt the need to call him directly showed they deemed this too important to handle themselves.

James made a gesture with his hands for the kids to stay quiet while he answered, something they answered with nods. Still, aside from Lucille, they made no effort to hide that they would be listening in, and even then the stern sister's twitching ear as she read the school's rulebook showed she was just as curious.

"Silhouette here. What's happening?"

"Ah, boss. Gonna be honest, I thought this would be some sort of secretary."

James recognized the voice of Claude Puma, that former warehouse worker who was far too nosy for his own good. Maybe it was related to him being a genderbent clone of some important businesswoman in the city left to fend for himself in the slums? In any case, that whole secretary idea wasn't bad. He technically already had his copies like Solvent and the pair of flesh monsters act as proxies to filter important information, but that wasn't all a secretary did and even then it only covered a few locations that his group occupied. Well, they did also serve to transmit messages when he had to leave his phone behind, but the point remained.

"Focus, Puma. What's happening?"

"Right. I was managing your shop with Snowflake when the gal from the magic place next door came to complain about rent and demanded to speak with you. You, uh, know something about that?"

Right. He had almost forgotten about that. Impressive, since his memory got improved by his change in body. He had never stopped renting this original building back at the Black Block, but he had barely talked to her since their original deal. He had paid his due a few times, but they barely even exchanged pleasantries then. He had a feeling this was related to what happened yesterday.

"I'll be arriving shortly."

"Thanks, bossman. Uh, any idea of how soon?"

"Very."

James hung up before his employee could question any further. He liked to treat them nicely, but Claude had the knack to rub him the wrong way.

"Alright kids, I'm going to deal with that. I'll try to come back shortly, but you know how this sort of thing goes."

"Yes, father. We will defend our home in your absence."

James chuckles as he petted her head.

"I know, I know. Just remember to be a kid, Lucille."

The young rat with metallic fur's ears grew redder from her blush, though she acted as though it wasn't happening.

"Alright everyone, I'm off. Don't hesitate to call Solvent or the orphanage if anything happens."

With those last words, James focused and shifted, leaving his phone and clothes behind.

He had come up with this idea shortly after first discovering this teleportation-lite ability. He was the owner of this residential building in all but name since everyone inhabiting it was an Infused. Even then, it was only a matter of time until he contacted the landlord and bought it as Silhouette, so he had taken the liberty to infuse it, though much more subtly than usual rather than claim the whole thing he had only taken the inside, leaving an untouched external shell that looked no different than any of the other neighboring buildings, that way his home didn't stand out despite being much more resilient than some bunkers. He did leave a few small openings here and there for him to easily access, but those were hidden behind gutters or underneath furniture.

He hadn't stopped at his building either. It was the labor of multiple weeks, but he had successfully managed to build a true network embedded in the city's ground. It wasn't anything close to the degree he had infused his bases or fake caches in the sewers, but he had formed a series of thin discreet veins. They weren't holes so they didn't weaken anything, in fact, they strengthened the spots they ran through, and they were so small they were very easy to miss. He had asked Mesker to verify that point when he first began. The mage had been the one to reveal how obvious his occupation of the orphanage was to his means of detection, after all.

These veins weren't anywhere close to spreading through the whole city, but they did cover a large area that encompassed all of his holdings while still leaving enough space not to make that first fact too obvious. Similarly, the veins weren't direct straight lines between locations. Many led to dead ends or shell areas he infused to fool people who'd like to investigate his network. If anyone tried to figure out how it all worked, they would be in for quite the headache, and should anyone expose or cut through some of the veins, he had multiple copies and roundabout he could take instead. Not to mention, the black veins were hard to spot in the already dark ground that made up the city's bell-like foundation to cover its Sunken counterpart.

He would admittedly likely be in some legal trouble if the authorities found out, but nothing that wasn't worth his safety and convenience. He would gladly pay any fine they offered and have one of his copies take his place in jail if it came down to it.

The trip was fast, but not quite to the point of being instant. This wasn't true teleportation after all, just closer to the flushing of a plumbing system. The comparison wasn't glamorous, but it worked. After a minute or so left alone with his thoughts and a strange sensation somewhat close to going through a roller coaster, Silhouette popped back up in the basement of his first shop. He had no nostalgia for the place, but it was still too useful to give up. And while the building itself had no place in James' heart, its black-and-white aesthetic with a tentacle motif had been selected by Larry and Barry, and James' first two employees might be saddened by the loss of the shop that marked a new step in their lives.

Claude, Snowflake, and their guest clearly hadn't expected James to come out of the basement. The handsome man and the white goblin-like creature were the most shocked, knowing perfectly well their employer hadn't been here earlier, whereas the magic shop owner quickly got over her initial surprise, likely assuming there was some kind of lair down there he had been working in before they called for him. Which wasn't entirely incorrect, there was the whole network of sewer tunnels patrolled by Mischief under the shop, he just wasn't there.

Maviza hadn't changed much since he'd last seen her. The black-haired tan girl with aquiline features still looked the same, with green glowing tattoos quite similar to Arabic script and bags under her emerald eyes. She radiated a no-nonsense attitude that bordered on a feeling of antipathy towards pretty much everything, and that was if James was being polite.

"Silhouette guy. It's been a while."

"Since my last payment."

She briefly exhaled from her nose before leaning against a counter, her arms crossed.

"So. I've heard you got yourself a new place."

"It opened yesterday, yes, though it had been announced for a while."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't sure you would go through with it until you did."

"I sure hope this isn't your policy when someone threatens you."

She did her best to fight back a smirk, but she couldn't hide the faint twitching of her lip from him.

"So, with the pleasantries out of the way, let's talk business. Are you going to keep this thing open now that you've got your fancy place in the big city?"

"If you would allow it. I already offered you to buy this building in the past, I am more than willing to do so again."

"Ah, fat chance. Do you know how long I've got my eyes on this spot?"

"Long enough to hex five of the former owners."

The twitch of her eyelid didn't escape his gaze either. Neither of them had explicitly stated that fact in the past, but when James first heard this building had a history of shifting ownership following heart attacks, he immediately had a feeling it wasn't coincidental. It didn't bother James as much as it might have had before he dropped into this world, even when he first met Maviza he knew how cutthroat the slums were. Frankly, he could understand the first and second not selling, but the third? By that point, it should have been clear the mage wouldn't take no for an answer.

Maviza wasn't a good person, that was for sure, but at least she was upfront about what she wanted and she wasn't as power-hungry as some of the other folks in the area. She did become a merchant rather than a gang leader or anything of the sort, after all. She only cared about her business, and she had no plan to expand to the same level. Oh, thinking about it, that may be an opening...

"Listen, our initial arrangement should still stand. I pay rent depending on the profits of the shop, and I get a monthly discount on a selection of products from your store."

"Yeah, but that doesn't seem as fitting now that you're starting a big franchise, big guy."

"Our arrangement mentioned the shop, not the company. I have no reason to pay more just because I'm expanding elsewhere."

"And I don't see the need to keep giving you discounts when you obviously have the money to pay the full price."

She stared at James' faceless head for a few moments, giving him ample time to come up with a solution that would hit multiple birds with one stone.

"Do you have a TV, perchance?"

She scoffed.

"I'm not a swamp witch, of course I do."

"I wanted to make sure, considering our location. Regardless, if you watched the full footage of the opening, then you should know I'm looking for experts in new fields to spearhead the production of new items to hit the shelves."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Are you seriously offering me a job right now?"

"If you wish, I could offer the same initial deal I did Decanov. You'll start as a temporary aid, and when this trial period is over you will be free to consider a longer-term position, if I am satisfied with your work that is."

"And why should I join you, shady guy?"

"It should be clear enough by now that Shade Of Penumbra will be successful. Soon I'll have mages knocking at my door by the dozen for the same position, not just because of our growing popularity but also thanks to my willingness to hire parias and beginners. I will expand my business to cover a larger magic branch than I already do with the remains of Runar's empire, of that there is no doubt. Don't you want to try and have a piece of the cake?"

She scoffed again.

"You didn't answer the question, big guy."

"It's clear by now you don't have dreams of grandeur. That is perfectly fine. However, you must realize that I still offer a chance to expand your business past these dilapidated streets. You may not want to be the next big thing, but selling in the city would still bring in extra funds. Not interested in becoming an employee? Perfectly fine, then I offer you to act as a retailer."

She frowned but didn't immediately retort. If anything, she began to ponder James' words judging by her gazing into nothing and light hum.

"Let me be honest here, Maviza. Do you think anyone else would offer you the same deal? I can't be the only one who pieced together what happened to the former owners of my shop. You should know Doctor Decanov's reputation. I offered him a job. Look at him now."

She growled before sighing.

"Let's try that retailer thing. You set up a stall with my things in your store and I get the profits?"

"Aside from my margin, yes."

"Five percent."

"Twenty. There's the cost of transport, of maintaining a place in the building, the branding..."

"Seven."

"I'm curious, you're the first magic shop James picked back then, but how many of them are there on the Block? Surely one of them would be interested."

She growled again and the glow of her tattoos grew stronger.

"Ten."

"Fifteen, and you get a monthly ten percent discount on one of our products of your choice. Delivered to you for free.

Her arms still crossed, her fingers began to tap her elbows before she nodded.

"Fine. But I want something this month."

"Of course. Let's put it on paper. Claude, if you could fetch one of our magical contracts."

James was really getting a lot of use out of those, he'd soon need to get a new batch from Mesker. Regardless, he was featuring new types of products in his store. He would still take the time to mark them as non-Penumbral goods, though. He had a reputation to uphold. He'd also need to hire some permanent magical checker to make sure nothing was cursed. Maviza had never tried to pull something on him, but better be safe than sorry.

All in all, this was a good start to the day.