HP: Sacred Gear Chat Group (2) - Chapter 39 (Patreon)

Chapter 39 - Brelyna Maryon

“We made quite a profit, but I don’t think we can repeat it,” Mom concluded after finishing her recounting of their journey.

“Why is that? Did you guys mess up your Transfigurations?” I asked teasingly, looking at Daphne, Astoria, and Tracey.

Transfiguration had a wide range of applications. While changing the form, material, or nature of something into something completely different was much harder and often only temporary, changing the shape of something while keeping the same material was relatively easy and usually permanent.

And that was exactly what we had agreed on.

Still, I had to admit that I wasn't an expert in Transfiguration. Of all the branches of magic taught at Hogwarts, it was the one I used the least. Most of my magic was focused on combat, and Transfiguration's applications in a fight mostly came down to reshaping the terrain, something I could already do with Earth Magic.

Sure, I could probably transfigure animals to fight for me or turn my enemies' weapons and attacks into something else. But those tricks required too much skill and precision to be reliable in the middle of a fight.

Perhaps that was an area I should put some effort into. At least once I had some free time.

“Hey, we've improved a lot over the last few weeks!” Tracey protested at my insinuation, earning a supportive nod from Astoria. “It's hard not to, considering how much we've been transfiguring over the last few days!”

“Yeah! The patterns on the Goblets I've transfigured have gotten so detailed that Professor McGonagall would have given me an O in last year's exam!” Astoria chimed in proudly.

Daphne didn't react. She had immediately realized that I was just trying to get a rise out of them.

Mom gave them a small, amused smile. “No, they did a splendid job. They've improved a lot. In fact, they've become so skilled at their craft that we could sell their work to nobles, too.”

She gave the three of them another approving look before continuing.

“But I believe we've flooded the market enough. It doesn't matter how quickly and cheaply we can produce goods through Transfiguration if there's nobody left who can afford to buy them. Witches and wizards did something similar in our world, and it caused serious economic problems.”

She paused for a moment, seemingly considering how best to explain it.

“Trade here is already quite limited compared to what we're used to. Most towns rely on local craftsmen, merchants, and caravans connecting them to other settlements. If we flood the market with cheap alternatives, we won't just be competing with the larger trading companies. We'll be putting smaller merchants and craftsmen out of business, too. And once they're gone, they won't simply reappear just because we stop selling.”

That was particularly relevant here in Skyrim.

The province had never been the wealthiest corner of the Empire, and the ongoing Civil War between the Imperial Legion and the Stormcloaks had only made things worse. Caravans had to contend with shifting patrols, military checkpoints, bandits taking advantage of the chaos, and roads that could become considerably more dangerous depending on which side controlled the surrounding territory.

Even merchants who managed to keep trading couldn't always guarantee that their goods would arrive on time, or even arrive at all.

In some places, the war had created shortages that we could easily have exploited. In others, the arrival of our cheap, transfigured goods might have been enough to destroy the livelihoods of people who were already struggling.

And there was a difference between taking advantage of an existing shortage and creating an entirely artificial one.

Mom continued, “Even if we tried to work around that by transfiguring a wide range of goods from cheap materials we collected along the road, we'd still be disrupting a system that people depend on. The war has already done enough damage to local businesses. We don't need to make things worse.”

She shook her head before adding, “That's why we have so many laws preventing magic and the Muggle world from interacting freely. Back in the Middle Ages, the consequences went beyond economics and even fueled the Witch Hunts. Even in a place like Skyrim, where people are relatively accustomed to magic, we'd eventually attract the wrong kind of attention if we pushed things too far.”

Especially in Skyrim.

The College of Winterhold was a perfect example of just how complicated the relationship between magic and ordinary people could be. Mages were hardly an unfamiliar sight in this world, but that didn't mean everyone trusted them. Most people in Skyrim already viewed magic with suspicion, and the Great Collapse hadn't exactly done the College's reputation any favors.

Now, imagine some unknown group of mages suddenly appearing in the middle of a Civil War, selling manufactured goods at prices no local craftsman could hope to match. Mind you, we weren't exactly advertising that we used magic to make our goods.

Still, it wouldn't take long for someone to start asking questions.

And depending on who asked them, the consequences could range from an Imperial official demanding taxes to a suspicious Jarl deciding we were somehow involved in the war.

Not to mention the Thalmor.

I had no particular desire to attract the attention of a faction that had turned political influence, religious persecution, and a long-running conflict with the Empire into an art form. Getting their attention would be a terrible idea, especially now that our time in this world was slowly but surely coming to an end.

Keeping the trade in magically created goods under control was something I couldn't argue against.

“Makes sense,” I said with a nod, genuinely accepting her reasoning.

It was something I hadn't considered nearly enough. Good thing my Transfiguration Skill in the Mushoku Tensei universe had been so lacking, or I might have caused a market crash there without even realizing it.

Even the jobs I'd completed for the Adventurer's Guild using the Reparo Charm had been pushing the boundaries of what could be considered economically harmful. Fortunately, repairing things as an adventurer was already an established part of the market, and those jobs were unpopular enough among adventurers that my involvement had mostly filled a gap rather than put anyone out of work.

Here, however, the situation was different.

Skyrim's economy was already under pressure. Even before the war started, Skyrim hadn't been the richest of the Imperial territories. It was a harsh land, after all. The Civil War had disrupted supply lines, diverted resources toward the armies, and made ordinary trade more dangerous. Even neutral cities like Whiterun had to balance their economic interests against the demands of the warring factions, while smaller settlements had even fewer options when their usual sources of supplies dried up.

And with Agnar and the Dragon involved in the province's affairs, there was no telling how much the political situation might change over the coming months.

I wasn't particularly interested in becoming yet another unpredictable factor in that mess.

What mattered was that we'd already made a good profit and gotten our hands on a wide range of materials. That was all that mattered to me. I didn't want to cause harm to innocent people if I could avoid it.

“We've got all the goods we wanted from here. At this point, it's just a matter of how much we can bring back,” I said, agreeing with Mom's assessment. “Anything we can't obtain from a renewable source will be extremely valuable in our world, or useful for personal purposes. Ideally, I'd like to focus on researching ways to produce more of those materials in the first place. As for the alchemical plants we can grow, they'll become an important backbone of our families' businesses in the future.”

Skyrim had been an excellent place to gather ingredients. Even setting aside the wide range of ingredients we'd traded with the College and the different Holds, its forests, mountains, swamps, and frozen northern reaches offered a remarkable variety of plants that anyone passing through could collect for free. Many of them didn't even exist in our world, making them extremely valuable.

Even the plants that did exist in our world were different varieties with unique properties, thanks to the vastly different histories and influences that had shaped our respective worlds. Although some of them were interchangeable to a degree, our magic and this world's Magicka were still fundamentally different, influencing the environment in different ways and resulting in distinct variations.

And that was the real value of our journey.

We didn't need to turn ourselves into some kind of interdimensional manufacturing empire. We just needed to acquire things that were difficult to find or didn't exist elsewhere, establish a few reliable sources, and bring back enough knowledge to make the whole trip worthwhile.

And plants that could be used to make potions would go a long way toward achieving that.

More importantly, a sustainable business was far more useful than a short-lived fortune that left a trail of angry merchants in our wake.

“And that doesn't mean we can't do it again in the future,” Mom added with a nod. “It will be months, perhaps even years, before you or we return to this world. You won't have time to come here while you're at Hogwarts.”

She gave me a pointed look.

“All I'm saying is that if you do something like this again, do it in moderation. And think about the consequences before you start transforming half a town's surroundings into cheap goods.”

“Got it,” I replied.

It was something I'd have to keep in mind in any future world I visited. Although the funds I'd been accumulating were steadily growing, I probably wouldn't need to do much general trading in other worlds in the future.

And Dad had already started making his first profits in our world, too.

“Also, I can trade with Agnar. I've added him to my Chat Group.”

Having the Dragonborn in the group was pretty much a no-brainer. He was one of the most useful people I could have established contact with in Skyrim, and having a reliable way to communicate with him would make future visits considerably easier.

Besides, I needed to add at least one member from every world I visited if I wanted easier access to it.

“Why aren't we in the group?” Daphne suddenly asked.

Good question.

Having a real-time method of communication with them, even across worlds, would have been the smart thing to do from the beginning.

No, wait. I should have added Dad, too.

We could have been trading this entire time. He could have started growing the plants we'd found here, perhaps even begun selling some of the more common ingredients, and sent us the funds so we could purchase more goods during our stay.

We might even have established a small supply network before the journey was over. With the Civil War making certain trade routes unreliable, having someone in our world who could cultivate and distribute the ingredients we brought back would have been particularly useful.

Instead, I'd been so focused on the loot from the journey itself that I'd overlooked one of the most obvious advantages of having interdimensional communication.

A mistake on my part.

“That's a good poi—”

Knock, knock.

A sudden knock at the door interrupted me.

We all turned toward it. Could it be Savos Aren? The old Arch-Mage hadn't visited me since I'd returned to the College today.

“I'll get it,” Tracey offered, rising from her seat.

My sister crossed the room and opened the door, revealing a young Dunmer woman standing on the other side.

Looking at her, I was once again reminded that someone really needed to install some mods in this reality. There was no way she could have been born looking like that in an unmodified world.

Her grey skin was remarkably smooth, and her surprisingly silky, chest-length white hair framed her face perfectly. Her characteristic red Dunmer eyes gave off a faint glow, but their shape reminded me more of an Asian woman's, complementing her gorgeous, elongated face and high cheekbones. All of that was paired with the familiar grey robes worn by students at the College of Winterhold.

Noticing my interested gaze, the young Dark Elf introduced herself with a polite smile.

“Brelyna Maryon.” She inclined her head slightly, although I could still detect the calculating look behind her eyes. “I hope I'm not interrupting anything important.”

“Not at all,” Tracey replied, stepping aside to let her in. “Come on in. We were just talking.”

Well, we'd been doing a bit more than that, but who was I to stand in the way of their budding friendship? Though, considering that Brelyna was from House Telvanni with their Wizard Lords, things were never quite that simple.

Of course, not every Telvanni was a scheming opportunist. Generalizing about an entire Great House would be as foolish as assuming every Slytherin was destined to become a Dark Lord. Still, those who rose to the top of House Telvanni were usually powerful, scheming opportunists who trusted absolutely no one, not even the members of their own households.

Backstabbing was practically the most common way to climb the ranks of House Telvanni. Your own apprentice could bring you a fresh cup of tea every day, only for you to discover one morning that it had been poisoned because they'd learned everything they could from you and wanted to claim your position as Master.

Now that I thought about it, the Telvanni would fit right in with Slytherin… just crazier Members of it, living in Mushroom Towers with the Power to back it actually up.

So it was no surprise that I couldn't help wondering how much of Brelyna's friendliness toward Tracey and Daphne was genuine and how much was motivated by the prospect of gaining access to their knowledge.

Then again, both Tracey and Daphne were Slytherins themselves, so perhaps this whole arrangement worked both ways.

“Alistair, right?” Brelyna asked, turning her attention toward me.

Of course, I was interesting to her, too.

“That's right. Have you heard of me?”

“Hard not to!” The beautiful Dark Elf smiled at me. “Tracey likes to talk about her older brother. And, of course, rumors about you have been spreading all over Skyrim lately, too.”

They had?

“Rumors? Like what?”

“About you being a Dragonborn recognized by the Greybeards. Or your adventures exploring all sorts of ruins in search of their secrets. There was even something about a drunken dragon-slaying party in Whiterun?”

There were that many rumors about me already? I'd only met the Greybeards a few days ago! How had word spread so quickly?

No, seriously, those guys lived in isolation atop the highest mountain in the world. Getting up there was practically like climbing Mount Everest!

Just how fast did news travel in this world?

“A drunken dragon-slaying party?” a familiar voice repeated, and those were the last words I wanted to hear from her.

Mom was giving me a pointed look, causing me to shiver. I knew that look all too well…

“I'm sure those rumors are exaggerated!” I quickly replied before changing the subject. “So, what brings you here?”

“Oh, Professor Tolfdir is planning an excursion to Saarthal. I was wondering if Daphne and Tracey were going to join us. It sounds quite a bit more exciting than listening to him talk about magical safety again. Maybe you'd like to come along, too? I heard you're a member of the College as well.”

[-- End of Chapter --]