Chapter 16: Professional and Personal.

[3rd person POV]

Three days after Ryuzu signed the contract, Marcel personally came over under the pretence of ensuring the quality of the apartment and the character of the people renting it.

He invited Ryuzu and Carman to a meeting over some afternoon tea, Carman made sure to empty all of the hidden compartments into his inventory and took some of the dust Ryuzu had beaten out of the mattresses to sprinkle a fine even layer making the compartments seem undisturbed. He found that as long as he was touching a pile he could absorb everything within it into his inventory, and that he can redistribute those items in any way he could imagine when placing it out from his inventory, which allowed him to spread the dust on the hidden shelves so easily.

As Ryuzu and Carman sat down, Marcel asked them what brought them to Fontaine. Carman revealed that he was just a runaway that Ryuzu was looking after. When Marcel turned to Ryuzu, she explained that she was from a real town that was wiped out by a band of criminals and that she has come to the big city in the hopes of becoming an adventurer.

Carman noticed the scrutinizing look Marcel was making towards Ryuzu before saying, "So you were born here in Fontaine? I'm a bit supprized since you look like an Inazuman with your white hair and golden eyes."

"Ah, I got that from my father's side, my grandfather on his side was indeed from Inazuma, unfortunately most of the documentation holding their names and ancestry was either destroyed or stolen by those criminals." Said Ryuzu

Marcel started giving Ryuzu an appraising look and Carman could almost hear the coga turning in Vasher's head, likely pondering wether he should attempt to kidnap Ryuzu for of his experiments. On one hand, she seemed to have no paper trail or documentation of her identityeaning it would be easy to snatch and hide she had ever existed especially with his ownership of the apartment she was renting. However, in the otherhand was the fact she wanted to become an adventurer and may have the strength to defend herself unlike his usual targets.

After their tea Marcel visited Carman and Ryuzu's new apartmentclaiming that he needed only a few minutes to check and photograph the state of the rooms,then he would be out of their hair. When Marcel left, Carman breathed a sign of relief and went around each of the hidden compartments and refilling each one.

Pointing out a line drawn in the dust to Ryuzu Carman said, "see, he knows where these compartments are, waning he's in cahoots with the distributor or manufacturer who was in this building. He probably wanted to double check and make sure all the stashed were emptied or that we didn't know that they existed."

"So Monsieur Carman, what do you suggest we do? Do you wish to change our residence?" Asked Ryuzu.

"No, no this place is great, the hidden room and passages will be a great place to hide certain projects and to mask your nightly excursions." Responded Carman with a small grin on his face. "With that in mind, this evening do you mind moving the remaining supplies from the old base to the hidden room? It would be nice to have everything at hand and we have some supplies I can use to repair that desk."

"That will not be a problem" said Ryuzu.

In the evening, using some of the materials Ryuzu had brought over, Carman repaired the burned desk. While it was by no means pretty or able to hold anything heavy, it could still serve as a workable for small to medium sized projects. Removing some of the shelves to open up some of the space in the room, Carman used rope a few nails and wooden boards to make a rudimentary practice dummy to practice using the Black Tassel he had gotten from the Gatcha.

Over the course of a few weeks, Carman finalized his plans with Livre regarding the production of the Fidget Spinners, talking with him and Ryuzu about his experiences with his biological parents and how he grew up slowly starting to reflect on and comprehend his raw emotions, he and Livre once again visited the courthouse and this time managed to file the patent for the spinners, however the patent on the original design would only last for 5 years. If there was further developments he could apply for a patent on those designs, but to to ensure a fair market business patents only lasted for 5 years and could not be renewed.

Due to the simple process of making them, Carman and Livre were able to crank out close to 100 spinners, with many variations in size coloration and aesthetic design. As a side project, Carman made a set of 10 fidget spinners comprised entirely of brass with silver embellishments, engraved on the central gear in each of them were his and Livre's signature along with a number ranging from 1-10. These were meant to be collectables and a few would be put on the shelves to sell with the normal fidget spinners. The others would be held onto until the product had kicked off.

It wasn't long after stocking the spinners that their first customers walked into the shop. Carman was sitting behind the clerk's table and was balancing one of the spinners in his hand as a father and son pair walked into the shop.

Putting the spinner down on the table, Carman greeted the shop's guests, "Welcome, what can I do for you today?"

A little nonplussed seeing a child around his son's age working so confidently behind a store counter the man stepped forward, "hey there kiddo, could you get me an adult to take to?"

"The only other adult here is Mr. Livre, who is busy in the back at the moment with a commission from the Guards to repair one of their Mekas. He has instructed me on how to take and file orders as well as the corresponding prices of the store's products and commissions. Rest assured sir, you are in capable hands." Replied Carman, who was trying to see the situation from the man's point of view instead of getting upset.

The man was surprised at how mature Carman was presenting himself and with the vocabulary he had displayed with ease, his own son still struggled with larger words. The son tilted his head slightly, trying to understand what Carman had said.

The father and son pair had visited the workshop to get the boy's toy repaired, a miniature mechanical horse that could make sound and gallop on a specialty repaired track. While finalizing the details of the commission, Carman picked up the spinner in his left hand and spun it a few times while writing down the details of the contract for the man to sign.

The fidget spinner caught the boy's attention and he watched it spin, balanced on only one of Carman's fingers with a look of curiosity and yerning in his eyes. His father, noticing this after signing the contract turned to Carman and asked. "I know this is a bit sudden, but where did you get that toy from? My son seems to have developed an interest in it and while his favorite toy is being repaired it would be nice to for him to have something to entertain himself with."

"Ah, this, this is a new product we are selling here in the workshop, they are our newly patented fidget spinners." Said Carman as he pulled out a box of assorted fidget spinners. " We have designs ranging from complex to simple, from fancy to plain, please have a look and see what you like." Said Carman as he walked over to the two customers with the box of spinners."

As he brought the box to the boy he said, "personally I recommend some of the more simple designs, specifically ones like this that have a stuff frame that you won't risk getting your fingers pinched in." Said Carman while pulling out a vanilla spinner.

"How much do these cost?" Asked the father.

"Only about 1500 Mora, Mr. Livre hopes to open a toy store that bings smiles to the faces of all the children who stop by. We can't really do that if all of our special items are too expensive" replied Carman.

With a smile and a breath of relief, the man told his son to pick the spinner he liked best.

The boy took a simple spinner as Carman had suggested, even though the ones made from gears looked really cool. Taking the Mora for the spinner from the father, Carman bid them a good day as they left. Little did he know how this simple transaction would change the course of his life and bring aspects he had thought long gone to the forefront.

-to be continued