Fortune Summoners: Journey of the Elementals
By: Snidne
Fortune Summoners © Lizsoft
Recettear, Chantelise © EasyGameStation
Standard Disclaimer:
All characters are copyrighted to their respective owners and do not in any way, shape, or form reflects the nature of said owners (Unless, of course, they actually do).
This story is a work of fiction and is not meant to resemble any person, place, or situation outside of sheer coincidence.
Due to the nature of this story, it is intent for Mature Audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
You have been warned.
We now present you our Feature Presentation with no commercial interruptions. Enjoy the story!
Chapter 7: Illusions of Peace
The morning began as any other. For one Recette Lemongrass, owner of the newly popular Item Shop Recettear, it meant an early wake-up call. Currently, she was washing her face preparing herself to face the day and what it would bring. Drying it with a towel, she looked into the mirror and adjusted the ribbons she used to keep her hair up. Smiling at her appearance, she was feeling rather pumped up to facing the world.
"Ok," she said to herself, looking focused in the mirror. "Another day for business. Time to earn some Pix! Capitalism, ho!"
"If you are quite done motivating yourself for the day, today is Inventory Day," the fairy Tear said entering the restroom, already dressed for the day. "Make sure you have everything."
"Of course! But first, breakfast! Come on Tear," Recette said joyously. Tear could only smile wistfully. It seemed like so long ago that Recette would dread these types of days. Taking stock of everything could be a rather tedious task, and the old Recette would have complained and asked for frequent snack breaks prompting Tear to scold and lecture her. It often meant spending the entire day in the stockroom, without a single Pix to be earned, and they were usually scheduled on days without any outstanding orders.
Perhaps now that the looming debt that her father had unwittingly placed on her shoulders had been left behind her, she could enjoy the simplicities of owning a shop. She certainly made enough to get by and even had the chance to remodel the store to accommodate more inventory to be displayed for sale. They weren't living lavishly by any means, but it was certainly a big step up to when they could only afford to eat porridge most of the week. As proof, what normally now took an entire day to do was manageable in a mere four or five hours.
After a simple meal of oatmeal, juice and half a blueberry muffin (the other half being for Tear), Recette was ready, clipboard in hand, as Tear began to count up stock. It certainly was easier once Tear decided they needed a 'filing system' for finding everything. Before, it would have been easy to miscount how much of something they had and end up being over or understocked when they went out to replenish things. Now that everything had a proper place, they could get through this faster and have more time to prep the shop for business.
Recette focused, making little notes to replenish their supply of Wool Hats, as well as to check up on the prices for metallic objects. A recent ore deposit being found had reduced the prices for things like swords dramatically, so they had to capitalize on it while the deals were still up at the Marketplace. She also made sure she still had the special 'Claw' gauntlet that she had managed to request forged at the Adventurer's Guild, claiming to be a 'Welcome back!' present for when Griff returned. She wanted something for Elan and Caillou as well, but finding the materials for the forging request was the hard part. She made a mental note to request an adventurer for a dungeon exploration in the future.
Taking only a single break to share some Walnut Bread with Tear, the duo were nearly done when Recette checked her watch. Seeing the time, she panicked a bit, placing the clipboard down. "Oh no, I'm gonna be late!"
"What? Recette, where are you going? We're almost done here!"
"Sorry Tear! I almost forgot I'm meeting Louie today and I'm gonna be late!" Racing to her fridge, she pulled out the lunch she had prepared in advance and gathered her things in her travel pack. "I promise I'll finish up as soon as I get back! Thanksgottagobye," she jumbled all at once before racing out the door of the shop, the jingle of the bell in her wake. Tear gazed at the door in slight confusion and exasperation before giving a sigh.
"Merde… that girl." Still she gave a soft smile. Perhaps it was time to admit that indeed she was growing up into a woman, even if she was still technically considered a teen and somewhat naïve. Though she was seeing less and less of that naivety as time went by. Deciding to let it go for now and save the lecture for another day, Tear went to find her feather duster and dust around the shop. It was rather amazing how much dust could settle over the course of a day here.
Recette meanwhile was racing through the town square, bypassing several people, some of whom waved as she went by. As she reached a park near the edge of town, she saw her friend Louie resting against a tree, looking up at some clouds. A squirrel was resting in his hair, but it seemed he hadn't even noticed it. The sight made her giggle, drawing her presence to him. His head turned, causing the furred animal to scamper down his face, to which he sputtered and waved his hands frantically over himself. The sight brought outright laughter.
"Hey, hey! Come on, that's not that funny," Louie said. He wore a thick-layered shirt and pants, a scarf loosely around his neck. One might think it strange he wore such heavy clothing, especially in such a moderate climate that Pensee was known for, but Louie was used to the weight and feel of the wool. Growing up in a much colder and somewhat harsher climate of the far north was a good way to make one appreciate warm clothing.
"Sorry Louie," Recette said, her laughter dying out. "I'm not late am I?"
"Nope! Right on time actually. You ready to start?"
"Yeppers! Let's do it!"
Recette and Louie had been friends for quite some time now, ever since she had first learned of her father's debt to Terme Finance. As an Adventurer looking to make himself known, Recette was Louie's first client to officially obtain an Adventurer's Card allowing him to explore the dungeons managed by Pensee's Adventurer's Guild. And Recette had been the first person Louie had shared that card with, a promise of friendship and understanding between two people who were beginning their life's path. He was an invaluable asset to her and the shop, especially in the early days when the money was budgeted very tightly to ensure she could afford her payments. Even to this day, Louie was the only adventurer who would give her a discount on his services whenever she asked, though Recette was determined to pay him back no matter what. Of course, the same could be said in return for Louie who seemed to be consistently low on money.
Now that things had settled down, both had taken the time to simply hang out with each other, a way to take a rest from the struggles of the day. Eventually though, it resulted in a rather unexpected outcome. Ever since the fiasco with Arma and the Lapis Ruins, Recette lamented how little she could do for someone who had become her friend, even if she was considered only a 'golem'. To her, Arma was Arma and nothing could change that. That was why she had asked Louie about teaching her how to wield a sword. Of course, she knew that others like Elan and Charme would have offered to help her had she asked. But Louie was always considered special to her, who would understand the whys without asking too many awkward questions or suspect her motives.
Of course, he happily agreed. It gave him a bit of a thrill to be teaching someone swordsmanship, almost like he was a master himself. And so their days of training began. It became quite apparent that Recette would not be able to even hold most of the swords Louie used, considering that he could wield heavy broadswords in one hand with his trusty shield in the other. So they settled for lighter short swords, which lacked power but allowed her to stay mobile. Several weeks of on and off training, considering that Recette still had a shop to run and could only schedule training sessions every so often, and Recette was firmly into what could only be called 'amateur' territory. Louie kept her on the absolute basics for the entire time. Holding the blade properly with the right grip and solid footing was more important and valuable than any fancy technique he could show her.
Today they were practicing against a straw dummy. Recette's practice sword was held firmly as Louie corrected her stance. For the most part he let her find her own rhythm for attacking and guarding; speaking out only to give her tips and keep her form proper. After an hour or so they end, mostly because Recette didn't have the strength to carry on. Sure she could carry lots of things in her pack, she was used to it from many dungeon explorations, but simply carrying things wasn't the same as fighting.
Unpacking the lunch she prepared, the two relaxed under the shade of a tree, enjoying the sandwiches Recette had prepared. Louie talked a bit how he was being hired more often by some high-end clients, and talked about getting a rather nice shield he had saw in Recette's store. They talked about Elan and Griff, wondering if they were already on their way back or not. Louie didn't completely dislike Griff. Sure he was rather blunt and tended to rub people the wrong way occasionally, but he was a good sparring partner, especially when one ignored the whole 'human-hating demon' thing. Personally, Louie thought the guy really just needed to relax. Perhaps take up a hobby or something.
Just as things started to wind down, the two were confronted by a young woman wearing a pink kimono-like garment and wielding a lance strapped to her back. "Oh! Recette, how convenient. I was just on my way to your shop," she said.
"Oh, Um, hi Nagi," she said both smiling a bit uncomfortably. Considering that her shop was halfway across town from this location, it seemed that Nagi's infamous 'sense of direction' was still in effect. "Er, well, the shop is closed right now. But I suppose I should go back and open it soon."
"Ah, no need to trouble yourself with that. I was only on my way there to talk to you about something. It's probably best that Louie hears it as well." Suddenly her expression turned somewhat serious. "It's about the dungeons Pensee manages…"
"What about them," Louie asked, concerned at the seriousness of Nagi's words.
"Apparently, they have been becoming a lot more dangerous than before. The Guild Master has already issued out some warnings about newcomer adventurers and such."
"But aren't dungeons always kinda dangerous," Recette mentioned.
"Maybe. But nothing quite like this. I tried looking for Arma to see if she knew anything, but no one has seen her all day. In fact, no one has seen her for the past few days if I recall." Recette frowned. It was true that Arma had been showing up to the shop less and less in recent times. At first she thought that the golem was merely busy, but if something were to really have happened to her again…
"It should be ok. Arma can take care of herself just fine," Louie said reassuringly. "Besides, we adventurers are always prepared for the dangers!" His confidence brought Recette's spirits up, before she jumped up, fist in the air.
"Right! So I better prepare my shop for when she gets back!" Recette started to pack up the remains of their lunch. "Thanks again Louie!"
"Of course! I should be free next weekend, so I'll come by the shop okay?"
"Yup! No problem!"
"It was good talking to you, Recette, Louie," Nagi said with a bow. "Sorry to have interrupted your date though." At the mention of the word 'date' both Recette and Louie blushed, looking away.
"I-I-I-it's not a date," Recette said, trying to hide behind the pack she was carrying.
"R-right! I was just teaching her some swordsmanship! Honest!"
"Hm? Quite a strange dating activity, but to each their own I suppose." Recette looked ready to faint, and she could swear she could see steam popping out of Louie's ears.
"A-a-anyway, I should be going, gottagobye!" With that, she made a hasty retreat back to the safety of her Item Shop. As she left Louie could only let out a sigh.
"Nagi… did you really have to say it like that?"
The girl, to her credit, did look a bit distressed at her friends' reactions. "Sorry. Perhaps I should have employed more tact? I've noticed you two always being together so I just assumed…"
"It's not like that," Louie said waving his hands in front of his body. Although a small part inside of him felt like he wouldn't have minded if Nagi's assumptions were correct.
Having made her way back to the shop, and having taken a significantly good amount of time to calm down, Recette entered her shop with an "I'm Back!" Tear came out the back, having just finished the last of the inventory-taking on her own, looking slightly displeased.
"You know, I would really appreciate you letting me know about these outings so I can plan ahead properly," she said in her 'I'm-lecturing-so-you-better-listen-up' tone. "Honestly Recette, you're rather lucky that we've gotten better at this to warrant such things in the first place."
"Ehehehe… sorry Tear. I promise it won't happen again." Thinking of her next visit from Louie, and what Nagi had said, made her blush again. "Uh, Tear, can I ask you a question?"
"Hm? Certainly Recette."
"How do you know if you… love someone?" The question seemed to stop the fairy in her tracks, even her wings stopping which caused her to be still in air for a moment before plummeting down. Recette quickly dived to catch her before she was hurt, but the fairy didn't even seem to notice what was happening around her. Recette was starting to panic. "Tear? Tear!? Oh no, I broke Tear!" She held up the fairy, trying to think of a way to snap her out of her trance. "Wake up Tear! I don't wanna run the shop by myself!"
"M-merde… stop shouting Recette. I'm not going to leave you to run the shop on your own. Heaven forbid it." Tear recovered and was flying again. "Anyway, what on earth brought about this question?"
"Oh! Um, nothing," Recette said quickly. "Anyway, let's set up the shop! Recettear is open for business!" The moment she said that, Louie came bursting into the shop. "Wow that was fast…"
"Recette, come quick," Louie said, his sword drawn. "Griff's back and there's trouble!" Recette quickly followed Louie, Tear right behind her as they made their way towards a nearby park. There before a marble fountain was the oddest sight Recette could imagine.
Griff, fighting one-on-one with a young female with a fairy by her side.
