Into Skyrim, Elder Scrolls 8 Nirn's Beta-Chapter 91: Operations

A man I decided to name shorty came and found me in the morning. He was the previous bodyguard that was with Maven Black-briar during our original meeting. He brought me to a small restaurant. The place was clearly set up and built to be a secure meeting place.

Maven spoke as soon as we entered. "Soup or salad?"

I paused not understanding, but I suppose this is a restaurant its just one for meetings. "Soup, can never go wrong with soup."

I had no idea who the owner was, but shorty set food down almost instantly. They must have premade the food as the soup was a little cold. Once done he sat quietly in the corner of the room. Maven sorted her utensils as she spoke.

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"Ingun came to me yesterday, just before I was about to turn in for the day. I must say I am surprised by what she said." She didn't look at me while she talked.

I smiled nonetheless, "Oh? and what was it about?"

Maven looked at me, "I'm sure you already know what it was about. However this time I will indulge you. She came to me to ask if she could learn more about our family business. She didn't ask anything more than that, but I suspect that will change in time. As for our agreement I will consider this as the first completed step."

She snapped her fingers and the Bodyguard Shorty left the room. Maven took a bite of her salad paused and spoke again. "You can eat, its not poisoned or something."

I nodded and as much as I would've liked to just drink the soup. I grabbed the spoon and used some table manners. The soup wasn't bad, but it was simple tomato soup. I took a second to ask my demand.

"So the deed to the land." It wasn't a question and it was obvious.

Maven nodded, "The gold?"

I dropped a sack of gold. The little number I had that counted my gold changed from 7 to a 6. The 10k gold was taken from my stash of 76k septims. It was surprisingly easy to make that amount. The septim was a little worthless in terms of economic value. I suppose that was due to the varying wars and oblivion crisis.

She sighed, "Of course you have it in a sack. Lynnie count the gold for me will you?"

"So the bodyguard's name was Lynnie? I've been referring to him as shorty in my head."

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow, "And why would you call him shorty?"

I pointed to my leg, "He stands on a lean, meaning either on leg is shorter or his left leg is injured in some way."

Maven looked at me curiously, "Why call him a bodyguard?"

I laughed, "Are mages excluded from that job? He may wear armor, but telling that its enchanted. Best guess is mage if he is injured like that."

Maven paused for a moment, her expression was one of amusement. "You seem to make a lot of guesses, and they are disturbingly accurate."

I shrugged, "I'm good at estimating, you ever heard of the marble jar game?"

She shook her head, "Enlighten me while we wait."

I gestured the shape of a jar as i explained, "You fill a jar full of marbles and use it as a betting game for kids. Once filled you make the kids guess, if they guess the number of marbles in the jar they can have all the marbles. You can even make the marbles cost something so they can buy one from the jar to reduce the amount. Perhaps charge them so they can shake the jar or preform some method to guess the number of marbles in the jar."

Maven nodded and seemed to take a mental note of the game. She likely had thoughts on using the idea. I continued though, "When I was a kid I would play this game a lot. I've never failed to guess the exact number. Though I've used many methods to deduce the number."

She didn't seem that interested in the conclusion, but the older woman still nodded along like a grandmother. I mean, she was in fact a grandmother so I guess it makes sense. I ate some more of the soup while we waited. Maven wasn't one for small talk though, so I took out the lexicon and began to work on it once more.

Maven looked at me oddly, but didn't ask about it. It was the right move as I was going to charge her for the question. Eventually though Lynnie came back in and handed the bag to Maven. He whispered something to Maven and she responded in the same tone. A second later he took the sack of coins and returned to the corner of the room.

Maven reached into her coat and pulled out some papers. It seemed the land was separated into two. "The land deeds, I'm not one to make dodgy investments. However telling that you paid and got Ingun to look into family business. I'll expect you to keep the rest of your deal."

I smirked, "Well it was magic, it is only right I do."

Maven got up, "You can finish your soup, the rest of the ingredients are in the kitchen. You can keep them if you wish."

Lynnie opened the door and they left together with Maven in the front. Her last words peak my interest. The offer to keep the ingredients was odd. I thought about it and reached a simple conclusion. It was a test to see if I had similar habits to the Thieves guild player. I was correct in my method to call the other player out.

I got up drank the soup and looted the food she left behind. I wasn't going to waste free camping supplies. Now I just had to gather up my minions, that included the orc tribe.