Newly Broke Heroine!

Ch. 6: Vulture Capitalism

Fiona caught a whiff of fish, and glanced at the nearby harbor. Fiefdala sat near a large continental lake, and as such, the lake was an excellent shipping lane to the various settlements strewn throughout the large valley. It emptied into a river further down south, all the way to the Cistera Sea, and up north, she could make out snow-capped mountains. 

She'd love to walk along the commercial walkway, seeing as it was bustling with activity at this late afternoon hour, but they had business to attend to, first. Bonnie waved to them with her cute mage-threaded vest, sleeved shirt, and leggings, with her poofy tail given ample room to roam, and tiny holes allowed her ears to go through the brim of her hat.

"Bonnie, you are a divinity of fashion, you know that?" Fiona gasped as she gave her a hug when they grouped up. Greg was talking to an older gentleman with short grey hair and glasses, their voice carrying in a low tone.

"Girl, it's just regular fashion for me," Bonnie said with a warm smile, and peered at the converted warehouse. The structure was wooden trusswork, light tan brick, and some occasional stone paneling. A rusty sign that read 'storage' swung in a light breeze, just out of grabbing range, and Fiona and Bonnie looked up at it.
"It needs a little work, but look at the size of this place!" Fiona said in awe. "A coat of paint, a little dazzle, maybe some renovations, but it's huge! How'd you hear about this place?"

"My dad was going to give me some money to open a shop, and said my enchantment skills were out of this world. He always wanted me to succeed, and he said they could subdivide the space." Bonnie let out a slight purring sound–foxes were weird, but Bonnie was cool to have as a friend. "This location is great! I can't believe no one ever used this place!"

"I think it went bust a few months ago, they weren't making much money, and the issue with the dragon lord was the last straw," Fiona said while narrowing her eyes, looking for some kind of lemon or issue that could be a problem. The location was great, a lot of foot traffic for sure, and the business attire of the populace indicated mid-range or high-end clientele were here, on their way to and from work, or the local eateries. A few couples were having a picnic in the shade of a large set of autumn-tinged leaves, laughing and looking joyous.

Fiona examined the exchange between Greg and the older gentleman, and came back to them looking tense. The guy was balding, and his nose was a tad red, and he had this skeevy look to him. Like a vulture, almost. Which was ironic, because she'd seen the avians fluttering around nearby, and they didn't look quite so off-putting. "There's a problem. Someone decided that they wanted to buy up the whole place. So now this guy wants to start a bidding war. And given our current gold status, this may become problematic."

"What? That's bogus, I called dibs. Dibs!" Fiona shouted out, and a few people stared at her, looking puzzled. As did Bonnie and Greg. "When you call dibs, it's yours. It's the rule from where I came from, it totally should be the same rule here!"

"Fiona, that's not how it...you know what, sure," Greg said while putting his palm to his face. "Look, the point is, if this isn't the place you're looking for, there's no issue. We can walk away, without a single copper spent."

She straightened her posture and tightened her snazzy green tie. "Fine then, let's give this place a good look-over, and then we'll go from there. Bonnie, think you can peer into the walls, make sure there's no rotting, or shady arcane wiring? This building is older compared to the ones surrounding it, the wood shows more weathering."

"I can, yes. Good pointers," Bonnie said, and reached into her satchel with her claws and pulled out a small scope that glinted with blue light from the eyepiece. "Try not to look through it for too long, it causes eye strain."