Arthur swept his gaze over the interior of the building, grunting a little as he proceeded to pull himself up the ladder to the second floor. Rather than bother with a staircase, the Chin's had constructed the second and third floors to be accessed only by a retractable ladder. It allowed for a greater amount of space to be used, especially on the first floor that had much higher ceilings due to its former role as a warehouse for the Chin's. The second floor on the other hand, Arthur quickly confirmed was a mixed use place meant for offices and sleeping quarters with the top floor entirely dedicated to sleeping quarters.
"Not much in terms of bathing or bathroom facilities," Arthur said, shaking his head. One per floor was not enough by far considering how many there were. And even if they needed to defecate and relieve themselves much less between the changes the body had undergone as Tower climbers and their lack of appetite, it still happened. Nevermind basics like washing hands and bodies.
"There's a bathing space down the street," Cassie said when Arthur dropped down to the second floor where she'd waited. "Makes more sense for us to use that."
"That's 'cause the Prime group owns it lah," Yao Jing opined.
"And none of the Durians have to pay either," she reminded him, patiently. Lam glanced at Yao Jing who shrugged in reply.
Yao Jing was leaning against the side of the alleyway, watching them speak and keeping an eye as was his job as Arthur's bodyguard. So was Mel who was just outside the room she'd chosen to take as hers.
"Now, you going to tell me what the problem is?" Arthur said. Depositing his gear in the room he'd taken had been simple enough, though he was not a fan of the lack of stairs. Dragging his spear up and down the ladder, even if he had a convenient sling for it, was annoying in the extreme.
"We have to set aside a room for Damian and his people. A few rooms, actually," Cassie said to begin with.
Arthur's gaze narrowed, as he deliberately looked around the area and then down towards where the hole was. "Be good to know that before. Along with the change in our deal."
"You're not saying no?" Cassie said, hesitantly.
"We're changing what you're paying me, and will be paying on the regular, but I've rented rooms before." He shook his head. "Though if we had a proper bottom floor, that'd make more sense."
She shrugged. "Did you really want to stay in the other place?" Of the pair of buildings offered, this was certainly the larger. The other could have stored more people, what with it basically looking like a hotel or hostel and - at the time - being filled with poor cultivators who rented the space out from the Chin's. But it also lacked the storage and training space that this warehouse did with its larger bottom floor.
"No, I guess not." Arthur said. More footprint area and the lower floor made for a better Clan building overall, even if the warehouse was on the edge of the northern platform. Made for easy storage though, which was the reason it had been built in the first place. "What else?"
Cassie hesitated and he mentally congratulated himself on waiting to negotiate the new income stream. For one thing, he was almost a hundred percent certain whatever else she had to say, he was not going to like it.
"Two more things." She offered a half-smile, then dropped it when Arthur just stared. "The first is, for the next five years, you only sell excess materials to us." As Arthur crossed his arms, looking very unhappy, she rushed on. "And you also have to support our push against the TG group."
"Firstly, not going to happen. I need to get a lot of contribution points fast. And that means finishing up quests," he said, firmly. "So that's not going to work."
"Actually, umm, he also wants to buy one of the sets of armour you were building," Cassie said.
"You're kidding right?" He shook his head. "You must be kidding."
"I'm not." She paused, then added. "You could mark it up? It'd help a bit. And if you do that, he probably be fine letting you do quests till your contribution points for it all are sorted. I know he wanted the armour faster than later."
"Because he wants to fight the TG group."
"Yes."
"Wah!," Yao Jing said. "You guys think we're just hired thugs now, eh?" Then, looking at Arthur, he added doubtfully. "We bukan, are we?"
"No, we normally aren't. I don't see a reason we're getting into for you." Arthur lips curled. "And I'm not seeing what kind of leverage you have to make us do it."
"We haven't given you the stones yet...." Cassie said, then shook her head a moment later. "No. No, you'll get them. I'm not holding it hostage, just because..." She exhaled. "We made a deal. But if you don't help, he's going to be angry. He's going to make it harder for us, for you, when you come out."
"Me? You're the one agreeing to things in our name."
"I know!" She snapped. "But he is the owner - the manager - of the floor here. I didn't think he'd..." Cassie looked uncertain, then straightened. "I'm willing to compensate you, outside." Turning, she looked down to the room that Rick and Jan had disappeared into, adding slowly. "I know you have options, but you can't have too many allies out there. The outside world..."
"It's not here," Arthur said. "On the other hand, if I do what you say, I'm making enemies. Not exactly what I was hoping for."
"You already have, helping me."
"Not the same thing."
A single arched eyebrow and Arthur couldn't help but repeat himself. It wasn't, it really wasn't. But she wasn't wrong either, that by allying and helping her, he was in their bad graces to some extent. On the other hand, actually attacking the other group was a whole different step.
"What exactly do you need us to do?" Mel said, cutting through the bullshit. "What are you guys going to do?"
Cassie looked relieved the next moment, turning to Mel. "We're going to take over some of their buildings."
"I got to admit, that sounds bad. What are you going to do, if they don't agree?" Arthur said. "Beat them up?"
She nodded. "No deaths. But, yes. Thrash a few of their buidlings and take over the other two bath houses."
"And then fight them when they try to push back."
"Yes."
"No." Arthur crossed his arms. "And that's a no for a few reasons. Including the fact that we won't be around long enough for you guys to properly hold it. Unless you intend to kill someone, when we're gone, they'll just take it over again." Cassie didn't say anything, but Arthur frowned as he stared t her face. "Oh, shit. You know that, don't you? You're counting on it."
Silence, while Mel snorted. "You want him to fail. You're maneuvering to have him fail when we're gone."
No ansewr from Cassie. Arthur sighed out loud, seeing the play. He stepped closer to her, anger filling his voice. "I told you, stop trying to drag us into your damn internal politics. This is the second time. There isn't going to be a third warning." Cassie hesitated while Lam shifted, glaring at Arthur. The two had a decent relationship, but Arthur knew that if it came down to it, Lam would have no problem putting a dagger in his lungs. "He can have three rooms, for a monthly stipend." Arthur glanced around, trying to recall how much he charged Rick. "The rest, isn't my problem." A slight pause, then he shrugged. "He can have the armour too, for a markup for sure."
Yao Jing didn't look happy at that, but he kept his mouth shut. Mel, on the other hand, looked approving.
As for Cassie, she just nodded.
Which worried Arthur more than if she had protested, really.