The next morning, Alice made her way to the House of Treasury and Supplies, located within the underground complex beneath the village hall. While striding in the main street, Alice realized that opening a normal size store would not be enough to absorb the goods produced by the beast folks.
“I need to create a market for them before another merchant gets ahead of me and monopolizes their product! I need to find a way to market their products.”
Alice was pondering deeply. Suddenly, a light bulb shone brightly above her head. “Right! A mall! But the problem is, who is able to build such a complex building with several floors high? Humans might be able to pull this off with their advanced magical technologies, but bringing human workforce to the village is quite risky given the current political status quo. Ah, Frick it! Let's think about it later. First, I need the funds!”
Before long, Alice had entered the main hallway which would lead her directly to the lower level where the House of Treasury and Supplies was situated.
This place was a literal fortress. Heavily guarded by the Incubi Sentinels and rigged with lethal traps in every nook and cranny. Though the stone walls appeared plain, deadly mechanisms were hidden within the walls, beneath the floors, and even overhead in the ceilings.
To ensure there were no blind spots, Lady Cydaea had deployed her spiderlings to patrol the hallways from secret tunnels behind the walls.
However, the moment Alice stepped into the underground fortress, Lady Cydaea deactivated the entire security system. Silken threads quietly unraveled as Alice walked through the corridor. Her spiderlings, upon sensing Alice’s subtle demonic aura, withdrew silently back into their nest.
Two Incubi Sentinels didn't ask any questions when Alice showed up before them. They promptly escorted Alice to the Loom Chamber where Lady Cydaea usually weaved and knitted her web into a silk cloth in various sizes.
To the naked eye, these plain silk cloth would mean nothing at all. However, Lady Cydaea recorded highly classified information regarding treasury records, secret deals, and the whole history of demon race within every square inch of the cloth.
Alice didn't know the purpose of Lady Cydaea’s works. But, she soon realized that the silk contained information that was encrypted in binary numbers. It only took Alice a few seconds to decrypt the numbers and translate it into Common Language.
Alice knocked on the door, and it swung open lazily and found the arachnid succubus was hanging onto her gigantic web nest. Since Cydaea’s size was practically gigantic compared to Alice’s lithe frame, the former opted to lower her legs, sitting on her spider body part.
“My dear Alice… It's so rare of you visiting me at this hour. What's the occasion?”
Alice stepped forward, ignoring the stare of Cydaea's spiderlings that scrolled the finished silk fabric. They were huge, almost the size of an adult sea turtle.
“Erm… Chieftess Andariel said that I have full access to her bank account as compensation for my big sale at the Grand Auction. Hence my unannounced visit.”
“I see…” Cydaea rappelled down from her nest, landed gracefully on all eight. “How much do you need?”
“I’m not sure… I will need some money to restock my supplies and open a new type of marketplace. It’ll be big enough to sell various goods from many different Beastkind’s craftsmen. I have envisioned the Beast Folks to have their own little store within the building. That way, we could sell more exclusive items to high profile individuals more openly. And of course, other demi-human races are welcomed as well.”
“Interesting, please elaborate.”
“I call it the shopping mall! And this will be the first of its kind! This enclosed marketplace will accommodate the customers with protection from the weathers, and more importantly, safety and comfort. On top of that, beastkind’s artistry is top notch! They can sing, dance, even do some acrobatics! It's a one stop entertainment for all!”
Cydaea’s six eyes blinked at the same time. “That’ll be quite a big project. Can you manage them? More importantly, have you found them trustworthy enough to be helped?”
“I am acquainted with this Fox Girl, Momo. She’s smart, and has keen eyes for high quality products!”
“What if she betrayed us and embezzled all the profits behind our backs? This is serious business, Alice."
“We can always turn them into gourmet dishes should they prove to be disloyal. No?”
Cydaea chuckled. Besides Andariel and Catharina, Lady Cydaea was also aware of Alice’s true identity. She had developed a soft spot for the little demoness, admiring her exceptional intelligence.
“I always love that vicious side of yours. Truly befitting your lineage as the future Demon Queen. But, please tell me… why are you always in a hurry?”
Alice wasn't surprised that Cydaea knew about her true identity. She didn't mind it. In fact, it would make everything easier to explain.
“War is won by the side that prepared the most.” Alice quipped. “Demon’s force was lost due to their inability to countermeasure human’s superior tactics and advanced technology, not because they’re weak. I blame my late father’s stubbornness for that matter. But he did the right thing given the dire circumstances he was in. But… I won't let history repeat itself.”
“By strengthening our foothold and economy? Smart, but it's still a huge gamble, even if you successfully manipulated the young human queen to join your movement, there’s no guarantee that the citizens of Arlenheim’s Capital would follow the new ideology of living alongside demi-humans right away. Not when those three princes are still around…”
“That’s why I sent Catharina to do the leg work for me.”
Cydaea understood why Alice implied right away. “What if she failed?”
“She will not…” Alice shot a sharp glance at Cydaea.
Cydaea finally relented and said, “very well… you passed the test, your highness. My apologies for putting a pressure on you.”
Aliced sighed “That’s alright. You have the right to do so. It's a big business after all."
“When will this project start? And how are you going to approach it?”
Alice pondered for a while… “Hmm, let's test it on a small scale first. I’ll send you the detailed building plans once I speak with Momo and the other beastkind’s representatives.”
Cydaea pulled a string of her medium sized leather pouch flew toward and caught by a hand.
“For starters, why don't you buy a store building on the East Side? There’s 2,000 gold coins inside that pouch. That should be enough to open up a new store. As usual, just tell the vendors whom you bought the goods from to send the receipt to my manor, and I will handle the payment from there.”
Alice’s eyes were gleaming upon seeing the shiny gold coins. She also didn't forget to give the arachnid succubus a hug before she left.
“Mmm! Thank you, Lady Cydaea. I will visit you again, very soon!”