Chapter 85: A trio of merchants, not furries
It appeared that the group that came in next, didn’t want to be spoken to individually. It became clear why after Sam had brought them in.
They weren’t human.
Cass wasn’t exactly sure what the right way to call them was. Partial human? Shifters? Were-people? There were so many things that they could be called, and Cass didn’t trust what newspapers printed. Given the time frame, he was sure that they were derogatory forms.
What he was clear about was that they were probably merchant heads from the nearby town, and they didn’t seem particularly happy to see him.
Two of them appeared to have pointed, dog, maybe cat-like ears, with two different styles of tails, while the third was a fairy. The tallest was a woman, who had pointed ears, and a whip-thin tail. Cass assumed that she might have been a cat being of some kind, especially with her narrow gaze, the fact that her eye colour was an amber-yellow shade, and the sharpness of her features. Her skin tone? A little less known, since she had a fine layer of dark fur over her skin.
If looks could kill, he would be dead.
The second of the furry-folk was slightly shorter, also a woman, but she wasn’t thin like the other. She was more rounded, her hips wide, her tail big and fluffy, and her ears were big. Her skin was covered in patches of dark brown fur, filled in with white fur. She looked soft, rounded, but Cass didn’t trust it for a moment. She may have a softer expression, but Cass had seen how hungry dogs had looked at him before. He knew better.
The last one, the male, was a fairy. He was, surprisingly, pink in colour. Pointed ears, and pink highlighted various parts of his body, giving him a natural contour. His eyes were a pale pink shade, almost purple, and Cass did find his looks compared to the other two more eerie, but at the same time, the pull of his blood told him that there was some loyalty between them.
The man actually seemed to be relieved that he could feel that tug as soon as he entered the room, and some of his hostility faded.
"So the rumours are true." The man murmured, and the two women gave him strange looks, before something clicked.
"He actually is a fairy?" The shorter woman asked, surprised, while the male nodded. Cass was actually quite amused that they could behave this way before him, knowing now that he was the one that was funding them. There was no other reason that someone like him would call them here, but it was clear that none of them were pleased to find out this information.
While the hostility had dimmed from the male fairy, it wasn’t gone entirely. They were all still quite hostile, and Sam, who had made sure that there were three chairs available, looked rather uncomfortable. The three of them didn’t sit, until Cass gestured to the chairs.
"Would you three like to sit?" Cass offered, and watched them as they had varying reactions to his words. The taller of the women narrowed her gaze, while the shorter clenched her fist. The fairy’s ears twitched, and Cass did his best to keep his face normal. That was something he hadn’t expected.
His fucking ears twitched. What the fuck? Why couldn’t he do that? Was that because Lord Blackburn wasn’t a full fairy? He had so much he needed to look into on his own.
"We would prefer to stand." The smaller woman said, and the other two nodded. Cass, sensing it was a pride thing, sighed heavily before he nodded.
"Of course. Whatever makes you feel more comfortable." Cass let them think that they had made him look like an asshole for a whole minute before he loudly pushed his chair back, and stood up, adjusting his outfit.
He wasn’t an idiot, and that part of Lord Blackburn’s memories were back, plus he’d studied. They would have found it rude if he had remained seated in this part of the country. It was related to fairy mannerisms, and Lord Blackburn was a businessman. He would not have gone out of his way to offend people, and that was not Cass’ intention with this group.
None of them were the ones taking extra money from him, or a concerning amount of money from his accounts. They were taking very little, just enough to help them float, and actually paying back into it when they could.
They were also the people who he wanted to make sure he continued trading with. But they didn’t need to know that until Cass had changed their opinions of him. There was a reason Lord Blackburn had invested in them without revealing who he was.
There was a bias against the Blackburn family in this region for a very good reason. It all had to do with his mother, or Lord Blackburn’s mother. When he had come into the forest and declared his lineage with her, the fairies had been...mixed in their responses. They had given him the area he had asked, but he felt that he had soured a lot of relations even more when he gave the temple to Lady Ava and the Vespertine family.
He had won more favour with the humans, and lost it with everyone else. Fucking checked out.
Standing before them, coming out from behind his desk, Cass tucked his arms behind his back, holding onto his wrists as he came to a stop. He was about middle ground for height compared to the rest of them, and the fairy frowned as he realised that Cass was far more knowledgeable than they had anticipated. Cass smiled.
"Well then, shall we discuss why I asked you to come here today?" Cass said carefully, watching everyone’s expressions shift slightly. He swore that the taller woman, who he thought might be a cat of some kind, that her ears twitched slightly. Cass tightened his grip on his wrist.
Out of everything, this was one of the more surreal experiences so far.
"What is there to discuss? If you are planning to cut funding to our projects and our Guilds, just do it. You didn’t need to do this in person." The taller woman snarled, clearly upset and Cass felt his eyes widen. He could understand where her animosity came from, but it was rather sudden to show it so quickly. She immediately paled, pulling back a few steps. "I-I overstepped, but my words are sincere. It is cruel to-" Cass raised his hand, cutting her off. He almost didn’t expect her to listen, and the other two had a rather severe reaction to him cutting her off.
Both grew more hostile. Cass could feel that Sam was getting worried behind him, but Cass realised that these three were far more afraid of him then anything else.
"You are right that it would be rather foolish of me to invite you to my private study to tell you I would be cutting funding to you three, which is why I didn’t do that." Cass told them, and the three of them froze. Cass’ lips twitched. "I would never do anything so silly, and such a waste of time and resources. No, I was actually thinking it was time that I tell you I was your secret investor and start putting things into place that my other investments do. Like monthly reports on the dealings inside of your businesses, or if that is too much, every three months." Cass chuckled, shaking his head. "I realised that you would not react well to having me of all people investing into you, so this is why i hid myself for so long."
It appeared that he had shocked them greatly, and Cass chuckled. Fuck, he really wanted to say ’what? Cat got your tongue?’ but he was sure it would not land well. Damn this body!
It was the fairy who spoke first, and who seemed quite nervous to do so.
"Uh, Sir Lord Blackburn-"
"-Just Lord Blackburn will do." Cass corrected, before encouraging him to continue speaking. The fairy swallowed.
"Lord Blackburn, while I understand what you are saying, I am still confused. I’ve always wanted to ask this but, why did you invest in us? What made someone like you...interested in anything that we are doing?" His voice was melodic, calming, and moving. Cass wondered what the fuck being a fairy actually meant. It sounded quite broad.
Wait, hadn’t his mother been like, an actor or something? He’d have to look into that again.
"Why did I invest in you? That is a fair question. Would it be alright if I was forward?" Cass asked and watched as they swallowed.
"Of course. Who are we to say no?" The smaller woman replied, her tone soft, but her gaze piercing. Cass smirked.
"Thank you. I invested in you," Cass glanced between the three of them, "because you put the most back into your community. Out of all the other merchants, Guilds, what have you, you three had the best margins from observations that were invested back into the town. As someone who cares about the development of where I live, that was very important to me. Most of the other companies and guilds took the money they earned from the community and invested it elsewhere, which was not what I desired. I wanted to build bases here that care about here, and other people were not doing that." Cass shrugged. "Of course, I could always artificially inflate the town, but that never works, so I invested in you. Make no mistake, you are not the first I have done this with, and you won’t be the last, but that does not make you any less important to me." Cass told them, seeming to surprise them.
"You’ve done this to others?" The taller woman demanded and Cass nodded.
"Several. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t know it had the effects that I wanted." Cass told them. "Of course, I still invest in the others, but they have a much tighter leash. You are given a lot more freedom, and honestly, I find the margins between what you do and what they do much better. Yes, they are moving ’more’ money, but that doesn’t mean that I’m actually turning a profit, and the benefits seen from their money is quite small. I can see what my investments do to your groups on the ground." Cass could tell he’d caught them by surprise. "The town looks much better than when I first came here. I’m glad. It feels warmer, and brighter. I unfortunately did not get to check out the merchants aisle or whatever you had created, so I am not able to give proper advice on what I think would be the next best improvement for that area." Cass felt like he was rambling a bit, and from the wide-eyed stare he was receiving from the trio, he had a feeling that they were surprised.
Shocked even.
Was that...a good thing?