Chapter 6

"All I ever seem to do here is sweep." Bosu grunted as he swept the floor with as little enthusiasm as possible.

"Well to be fair," Kiagi said from his newspaper as waved his finger in the air and summoned his teacup to levitate from the backroom to his large leather chair next to the counter. He then took a sip and sighed in satisfaction. "That is what I pay you for."

"You don't pay me." Bosu said dropping the sweeping brush to the floor.

"No?" Kiagi asked lifting his gaze from his newspaper to the disgruntled dwarf. "You live here rent free and consume at least ¥10, 000 worth of candy a week which is either bought or magically produced by me. Tell me, how do I not pay you again?" Bosu's silence said it all.

"I thought as much" Kiagi said smiling as he snapped his fingers and the brush shot up from the floor and back into Bosu's fat stubby hand. Admitting defeat, the dwarf quietly continued sweeping.

It was at this point, the bell rang above the doorway, signalling the arrival of a customer walking though the door. "Good morning," Kiagi said lifting his gaze back up from his newspaper "How might we help you toda...OH FOR GOD'S SAKE RYOGA! NOT AGAIN!"

Ryoga stood in the doorway looking rather sheepish. "Erm.. Hi Kiagi." He said, scratching the back of his head. "I kinda need a new compass." The temptation for Kiagi to throw his tea at the young man in the bandana was undeniably strong. After all, this was the fourth compass Ryoga had somehow managed to lose in the past 8 years and the novelty had definitely worn off by now.

"You realise that this will be compass number 5 that I'll be giving you, don't you?" Kiagi asked getting out of his chair and pulling a ladder toward him. Climbing to the topshelf, he pulled down a large cardboard box and brought it down with him, settling it on the counter.

"Do have many compasses in that box?" Ryoga asked, curious about the box.

Kiagi shook his head. "This isn't a box full of compasses, my friend."

"Then what's in there?"

"Sentient Knives." The sorcerer answered coldly, opening the box and allowing several blades to fly towards the young man in the doorway.

Ryoga narrowly dodged the barrage of blades as they slammed into the doorway with vicious force."What the hell was that for?" He screamed, staring into the reflection on the blade.

"Stupidity annoys me." Kiagi answered before summoning the knives to return into their box with a sharp whistle. "And in all my years, I've rarely found anyone as stupid as you."

"Hey! I didn't come here to get insulted!" Ryoga snapped

"No, you came here for ANOTHER un-losable compass!" Kiagi snapped back "Your fifth one, I might add!"

"Look, I'll pay for this one!" Ryoga pleaded, trying to defend himself

"You should have paid for at least three of them!" Kiagi said "Fortunately for you, I seem to have become charitable in my old age. Now hold out your hand."

As instructed, Ryoga held out his hand and gave it to the sorcerer who cupped his hands underneath. Then, the familiar glow sparked in his palm before the outline of a small box came into sight. The box fully materialised and dropped into Ryoga's upturned hand.

"There you go, Ryoga. One new compass" Kiagi said "Might I suggest you use this one to find its predecessors?"

Ryoga bowed humbly, accepting his replacement wedding present. "Thanks Kiagi." He said "I promise I won't lose this one."

"See to it that you don't." Kiagi answered as he watched Ryoga leave. "I think next time, I'll just turn him into a compass."

"How does he keep losing those things?" Bosu asked as he finished sweeping and placed the brush in the corner of the shop.

Kiagi smiled, placing the lid back on the box. "The real question is how does he keep finding his way here without it?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Bosu looked at the holes that the magic knives left in the doorway. "Where did you get those knives anyway?" He asked, sticking his finger into one of the holes.

"Bosu, you should know better than to ask me questions like that." Kiagi answered, picking up the box and stepping up the ladder to place it back on the shelf. "You won't like the answer."