Austin…twitches. “Tada?Tada?Are you insane?”
“Huh?”
“Where did you get all this?”
“The mines, duh.” TheCosmicMines, to be precise. But Austin doesn’t need my precision. He’s got plenty of his own if what he was working on a moment ago is any indication.
Jerking a leather glove off, he throws his fingers into his hair and inches toward the counter. “I can’t afford all this. I can’t even do anything with most of it. I—” He tosses his hand toward the furnace. “I’m making an axe, Citrus! I’m not a jeweler, and it’s rare that anything Lia’s blessed with resilience needs to be replaced.”
I blink.
That.
Makes a lot of sense.
Heat swarms to my cheeks. “Well…what am I supposed to do? Who do I sell to?”
Austin blows out a breath and begins carefully examining my hoard. “Pyromightwant to take a look, since he’s gifted and actually needs these conduits to fight with his gifts, but he’s not going to want everything, and he’s probably honestly already set with most of it. Your best bet is Mimet. She’s got a knack for business and will know exactly where to invest.”
I shudder. “Mimet…huh?”
His hazel eyes hit me. “Why’d you say it like that?”
I look elsewhere. “No reason.”
“You have a problem with Mimet?”
“Noo…” I mutter, “I have a problem with…the crowds…and the noise…when Mimet comes.”
“Are you serious?”
I frown, adjusting my glasses on my nose. “Well, sorry. Some of us aren’t abrasive blacksmiths who shove our way through the masses to sell…whatever it is you sell.”
His eyes roll. “Blessed tools. I sellblessed tools.”
“Lame. Using your sister’s efforts to make money for yourself.”
His eyes close, and he frees a cooling breath. “Callingmeabrasive when you’re like this… She kinda lives here, too, stupid. We useourefforts to make money forourselves.” He swipes a hand over his face. “Tell you what, I’m already planning to join the fray this Sunday. I’ll just take this stuff with me and sell it for you.”
That sounds too good to be true. “What’s the catch?”
He scoffs, fixing a sardonic smile on me. “No catch. I’ll just put whatever you earn off it in your mailbox, so if you want your money, you’ll probably have to check your mail.”
“Devious.”
His pathetic shoulders shrug as he heads back to the flames and pulls his lump of metal from the coals. “Those are my terms. Trust me, or brave thepeopleyourself.”
Yeah, I will not be doing that second part. “Thank you, Austin. I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, whatever. It’s not a big deal.” He sets his hammers up again, beginning the next tedious step in the process of making an axe, I guess. “We take care of each other here. Don’t forget that.”
For the first moment, in all my years of playing and all my days of being here, I don’t think I quite despise Austin like I normally do. Maybe there’s more to everyone than their condensed game character arcs could imply. “I won’t,” I say. “Samson and I are gonna be heading back to the mines tomorrow, since I’m on the hunt for a diamond and stuff. Is there anything you need?”
“Iron. Always iron. Never not iron.”
“Oh-kay. Good to know.” True to game, that is his favorite gift. “I’m gonna go check my mail now.”
Voice thick with sarcasm, he says, “What a riveting idea.”
