Chapter 373. Dave.

  “Why don’t we start at the beginning. Just what is this Kaalx Consortium and why are you here on a pre-inducted world? I asked the goblin that seemed to be in charge.

  “No, why don’t we start with who in the hells you are and why you are interrupting my meeting with this human?” the goblin snapped back.

  “I’ve been called here by the system and by the powers in control of this world. I’ve dealt with goblin corporations before, and we’ve always been able to figure out a beneficial solution to both parties,” I paused for a moment before ordering the drone to take a step forward and move its bladed arms for the goblins to get a good look at.

  “While I hope we can have an amicable interaction, rest assured, I will do whatever it takes to keep my world safe. So, why don’t we start again. Who are you and why, exactly, are you here?” I asked.

  I could see the gears turning in the goblin’s head. He looked at the spear carrying guards nearby and the pair outside still watching the door. After taking in his forces, he looked over me and my two minions. The power gap between us was obvious and the goblin quickly realized that he wasn’t in a position of strength if this thing turned into a fight.

  “Fine, I’m Frieg, and like I said before, I represent the Kaalx Consortium. We have trade deals with several world and wanted to see about expanding to this place that I think the natives call dirt or something of the sort,” the goblin said.

  “Thank you Frieg, and it’s Earth, not dirt. I’m Rico Kline, and as you probably know, you’re not supposed to be here yet. Just how did you manage to teleport here?” I asked.

  “That was easy enough, the transportation division of the Consortium has developed a portal that can open onto pre-inducted worlds once the mana levels are up a bit,” Frieg explained.

  “Okay, so why here? This is kind of in the middle of nowhere and I’m assuming that the fine gentleman running this establishment isn’t the head of globe spanning convenience store empire,” I said.

  “Yeah, the boys in the transport division botched that up a bit. It turns out they can get people here, but we’re limited on the tier and rank of those that can be sent, and as you can tell, the location the portal selected seems to be less than optimal,” Frieg admitted.

  “And you, sir, what’s your name?” I asked the man behind the counter.

  “Everyone calls me Buddy, and yeah, I just own this one location, but that doesn’t mean these green guys can show up and try to boss me around. If their stupid portal thingy hadn’t taken out the phones, I’d have the sheriff remove them for trespassing,” Buddy said. I had to give him credit, I doubted he’d ever met another intelligent species before and he wasn’t afraid to stand his ground.

  “Thanks, Buddy. So, since my team is here to keep things civil, do you oppose hearing what Frieg has to say? And Frieg, can you make an offer that is mutually beneficial to Buddy?” I asked, really hoping that this was going to be a summoning that didn’t devolve into bloodshed.

  “I’ll hear him out, but I’m not exactly inclined to accept any deals after the way he was acting earlier,” Buddy said.

  “Fine, on behalf of the Kaalx Consortium, I apologize for any earlier misunderstanding, and offer compensation for my actions,” Frieg said, slapping down a small stack of silver coins on the counter and letting his apology sink in before continuing.

  “As for my offer, I’ll lead with a question for Buddy. You do know what’s about to happen to your world, right?” Frieg asked.

  “Yeah, sort of, I mean, we’ve all seen things on the news, and the government seems to be taking it seriously,” Buddy said. I was intrigued and hoped I had time to ask Buddy some questions about how things were on Earth before the summoning was over. If a guy running a convenience store on the outskirts of Pahrump had an idea of the coming integration, Earth just might have its act together.

  “Great, so at least I don’t have to explain that. So, we’re interested in opening up a chain of shops like the one you have here after the integration happens. We’ll offer convenient food, simple potions, and basic gear. Its stuff targeted to noobs, er, I mean newly integrated folks. You know, the people who need something to help in their new lives, but don’t have skills or coin to use the more powerful stuff.

  “I had hoped to partner with someone with more reach than a single store, but hey, the portal the transportation department came up with can only do so much. Buddy, we’d like to purchase your shop and use it as a model for our ongoing operations once the integration gets into full swing. My organization would be willing to offer up as much as ten gold for the store, contents, licensing agreements, supplier contracts, and future expansion rights. What do you say, Buddy, do we have a deal?” Frieg asked.

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  “Ten gold? You think I’d sell my only source of livelihood for ten gold coins? We may be new to this whole integration deal, but that doesn’t mean our world is populated with suckers. No deal, you and your consortium can kick rocks,” Buddy replied.

  It had been a terrible deal, and Buddy was right to decline it, though I wished that he’d use a bit more tact in his delivery. To his credit, Frieg didn’t seem offended at all, and actually cracked a smile for the first time. Nodding his head in understanding, Frieg responded.

  “Woah there, Buddy, I meant no offence. I just had to shoot my shot you know. If I could pick up your store for coppers on the gold, I have an obligation to my employer to do so. Now that the shenanigans are out of the way, I can make a real offer. Tell me, Buddy, if you had the funds, do you think you could purchase more shops like this for my company? Maybe in better locations, and over a wider area, but similar size and function?” Frieg asked.

  “Yes, while this is my only shop, others in my family own several around the state, and when we have the funds to do so, we’re always looking for new opportunities,” Buddy said. He seemed to settle down now that the earlier antics were over, and the real negotiations were underway. I began to believe that Buddy had more business expertise than you’d expect from the owner of an out of the way convenience store.

  “Perfect, I knew the transportation department couldn’t be that wrong when they loaded in the targeting parameters. Well, what I’d like to propose is that the Kaalx Corporation become partners with you and your family. We’ll provide you with the funds for expansion, and you’ll acquire as many locations as possible before the integration occurs.

  “Once integration occurs, we’ll be there to deliver inventory and use our supplier connections to get you better pricing. Is that something you’d be interested in?” Frieg asked.

  “Perhaps, though I’d want to see the numbers. We’re not just going to work as buyers for you and be left in the cold when the task is done,” Buddy replied.

  “No worries, you’ll be well compensated, and even offered consortium shares if you do good work for us. We’ll also need at least one human representative at each location, which means ongoing jobs for you, your family, and other humans in this world. Can we hammer out the details now? My time here is limited and there’s a lot to cover,” Frieg said.

  “I think, if your offer is as generous as you say, we can work something out,” Buddy said.

  The two began to negotiate, and while this goblin was as wily as others of his kind, Buddy held his own as they hashed out the details. When the cost to acquire stores was argued, I was able to summon the appraisers who provided a neutral third party to help set the valuations of the stores. Hopefully that was going to help with my eventual reward. When things were almost finalized, the topic of security came up, and I felt that Buddy might not grasp the situation and the danger that he might be in once the integration occurred.

  “Buddy, I hate to interrupt, but I want you to make sure you’re getting adequate protection at the shops. I noticed that Frieg is offering a guard for each store, paid for by the consortium. The agreement states that the guards would have the same stats and abilities as the guards he brought today. You need to know that these guards aren’t going to be up to the task when more dangerous monsters, and even humans with classes, begin to appear,” I said.

  “Really? I figured the government was exaggerating a bit to get us to pay more taxes or something. If that’s the case, let me see,” Buddy said, flipping through the pages of the contract they were working on. I was surprised to see them writing things down, and figured the system was limited on Earth, still, so maybe it would only intervene once the details were agreed upon.

  “Yeah, look at that. Thought you could pull one over on me, Frieg. See, it says that if the individual store managers want additional security, it would come from their store profits. It also has a clause that states we lose some of our shares in the consortium if we fail to adequately secure the properties that we manage, or if our profits dip below a certain level,” Buddy said, glaring at Frieg.

  “Uh, don’t worry about that, I’ll change it right now,” Frieg said. They negotiated for a bit more and finally came to an agreement. I had some contract skills with my new class, and I didn’t see any additional landmines for Buddy to worry about. Maybe he could do better with another organization, but the goblins were here now, and they had brough enough gold with them for Buddy to start a nice little convenience store empire.

  “Well, Rico, you did right by us and by Buddy here. Thanks for intervening, even if you cost me more than I wanted to pay for this deal,” Frieg said as his team handed over several small chests of gold coins to Buddy. They also gave Buddy a storage ring that was shielded from Earth’s pull on mana so he could safely carry the wealth on him without anyone knowing about it.

  “I’ve dealt with another goblin organization before, and while there were a few hiccups, they kept their word once an agreement was reached,” I told Frieg, thinking back to a couple of my summoned being adventures.

  “Nice, what organization was it? There’s a lot of goblins in the multiverse, but we tend to know the major players,” Frieg said.

  “It was a company called GEE, I think it stood for Gorma Etvart Enterprises or something like that,” I replied.

  “You don’t say. I think one of my employees has a brother that works for them. Hey, Dave, don’t you have a brother that works for GEE?” Frieg asked.

  “Yeah,” one of the guards replied. “It’s my older brother Jeff, he’s an engineer in their amusement park division and has been with them for a while now,” Dave replied.

  “Oh, I have to ask, and I hope I don’t offend you. What’s the deal with your names? Jeff was going to tell me, but my summoning ended before he could finish,” I said.

  “Oh yeah, humans from your world would find how we got our names very interesting. You see, my family…” before Dave could finish, I was pulled into a portal as the summoning was deemed over by the system. It seemed the mystery of the goblin named Jeff, and now his brother Dave, wasn’t going to be solved today.

  Congratulations!

  You have successfully facilitated an agreement between a being of your home world and the Kaalx Consortium. Your contracted summoning is considered complete, and you may collect the promised rewards at Somhagen Exports.

  You have been awarded 12 Experience.

  Experience/experience needed for the next rank: 20/50.