13 Deadly Deals

Departure 6: Divination

     Debt collector.

     That was the first pair of words to bang like a gong in Mafuyu's brain while regarding the tanuki before them. Well, that and also "five-star meal" judging by how his desperation was drowning the shop like a narcotic perfume. Chiyo probably agreed with the former sentiment since she treated the tanuki's business card like an explosive. Her eyes scanned the lettering just as gold as the trim in the shop's low-hum light. She blinked. And then squealed loud enough to rattle the fox's eardrums.

     "You're from the Tin City Merchant Guild?!"

     "What's that supposed to mean?" Mafuyu rubbed his ear with his finger. Chiyo moved to scoop up the stacks of envelopes and letters from the counter's end. Her whisper was stupidly dubious, as if the room weren't already suffocatingly crowded.

      "The Tin City Merchant Guild is the highest authority on Relics in the western continent. They're the big wigs that regulate the industry and manage a Proprietor's license to operate." The boar snatched up the last pink-hued bill.

     And promptly rammed them all down Mafuyu's shirt.

     "What the hell?!" The fox flailed.

     "I can't get shut down if they can't see 'em!" Chiyo exclaimed, snatching him back on the counter with every escape attempt he made. Amidst the slapstick border lining on insanity, the tanuki gave a hard blink. Promptly followed by a sudden chuckle. It was a raspy thing, so dry that the gatling gun of coughs chasing it put all eyes back on him. One of the suited furs—a cheetah—came to his aid, but was waved off.

     "I'm fine, Mr. Sakyo." The tanuki—Michio—stated. And after awkwardly clearing his throat, he shook his head. "And I am not here as a debt collector. Today. I'm browsing on a personal errand."

      Mafuyu watched the tension thankfully melt from Chiyo's shoulders—he really didn't need her finding more creative places to hide her bills in. The boar nodded, walked from behind the counter, and toured her customer around her shop. Only the cheetah suit followed. The rest hung back, eyeing Mafuyu as if he were going to skin and eat their boss alive.

     Which may have been partially true...but still rude as hell.

      The fragrance of Mafuyu's favorite emotion made it difficult not to stalk the tanuki, as if his monster side had finally roused out of its groggy sleep. Sure, Michio's demeanor was all polite business. But there was no mistaking the desperation beneath the mask and he salivated at the thought of prying it off.

     "Is there anything in particular yer lookin' for?" Chiyo asked, snatching a past-due slip from a shelf with the subtlety of a shipwreck.

      "You can relax." Micho stated with another chuckle. He had been referencing a small book during his browsing. It was leather-bound, tattered, with age yellowing the pages. "I'm looking for an older type of Relic."

     "Plenty of those here."

     "Hush up!" Chiyo shot at the fox who playfully stuck his tongue out at her.

     "In particular, I'm looking for a Registrar." Michio allowed Mafuyu and Chiyo to rubberneck over his open page. The faded illustration of the Relic made it out to be a simple, thin stone slab. Like the page, it was smothered in that weird runic language. All lavish angles and interwoven flourish that, for some reason, mushed to gibberish in Mafuyu's brain. "I've had no luck in the other shops, but was told I could find older Relics in this one—"

     "Oh." Mafuyu tilted his head, ignoring the business fur, "I recognize some of these. They look similar to the ones down in the ruins—"

     Chiyo snatched the fox right off his feet, clasped a hoof over his maw, and yanked him back behind the counter. It was pointless to struggle against that swine might, option to frown at her instead—then blinked when he realized he had actually frowned...