“How can I be of assistance, Lord Sangemah Bay?” Lorelei ‘Lore’ Wilde asked as her heart was bouncing around in her ribcage.
She had served Lord Dori Sangemah Bay for a few years now, and had appraised herself as someone who might be a top tier resource the crafty merchant king would eventually mould, once she had managed to close an important case for her.
She was of the belief she’d done a good job so far, her only mistakes in the beginning of her career when she’d finally seen just how extensive the Merchant King’s coffers were and had been woefully underprepared. She’d quickly learnt all who were brought on struggled like that, whether they were only ever going to stay as ‘regional/low level’ assets or easily had the potential to be an ‘on demand’ accountant.
Dealing with the sheer volume was the first test they were asked to go through, to gauge one’s potential, was the point. And it was brutal yet effective. Thankfully her own blunders had been easily corrected and were considered ‘non-issues’ that could easily be fixed with extensive training and investment, signs of a nervous diamond in the rough.
She hadn’t managed to rise as quickly as she wanted, but she felt her slow and steady rise would work out better for her in the long run, as dealing with accounts was a long game where patience, finesse and being able to see things in the long term.
…but now the one in charge of EVERYTHING, wanted to see her directly.
What have I done wrong? I’ve done really well lately, my superiors seem to like me and have been hinting a promotion is in my future, but what could I have done that would garner Lord Sangemah Bay’s attention?
“Don’t be like that, dear. Call me Dori~!” the diminutive woman beamed at her, as she lounged on her smiling genie, combing through her own reports and seemingly very happy at the utterly absurd amounts of Mora she had at her disposal.
“But you are right, in that I have a job for you!”
She put her work aside, before lifting herself off the purple creature and facing her directly, her amber eyes sizing her up and assessing some quality Lore wasn’t sure of.
“…how can I be of assistance to you, Lord Sang—Dori?” Lore repeated, catching herself and fixing her mistake.
“I’ve been following your rise through my network for a while now, an–?” Dori started, being interrupted by an EEP! sound that caused her to stare at Lore. She shrunk within myself as she realised she had made said noise. But unlike some of her previous employers she’d worked for, Dori only smiled and laughed before continuing.
“Yes dear, you’ve been doing such a good enough job that your superiors are of the belief that you’re ready for your first special assignment.”
Upon hearing those words, Lore did what she could to try and control her emotions, as she put on the best attempt she could manage of an accountant ready to work.
“What do you require of me, Lord Dori?”
Dori sighed, briefly losing the cheerful attitude she was renowned for.
“Once you close this account for me, you’ll be one of my inner circle, so please keep that in mind.”
Regaining her mojo with a rather flamboyant hand gesture, she handed me a piece of paper, which I was quick to read.
D.
Given what’s happened, A. has been too busy cleaning up the mess to
get any relief, and its affecting his judgement.
Now is the best time to get what you need.
K.
Before Lore had a chance to say anything, Dori began her sales pitch.
“Now, as you are well aware, I have friends all over Sumeru, and anyone who is anyone has an account with me, and this is true of the poorest Desertfolk to the richest Scholar. But with the changes currently happening within Sumeru City and the Akademiya, there is a unique opportunity to get a rather lucrative contract within the Akademiya!”
Dori’s eyes were wide with excitement, the amber pupils almost resembling the golden coins she adored so much.
Oh. No big deal then… Lore thought, the pressure of what was expected of one of Dori’s personal accountants now being made painfully aware to her. She hadn’t been expecting anything like this until she’d spent a few years as a senior accountant, and would have had the opportunity to establish a rapport with the merchant king on more favourable terms.
“A friend of mine in the Kshahrewar,” she gestures to the note in my hand, “who is close to the Scribe of the Akademiya, has presented an opportunity to ensure I can broaden my relationship with all branches of the Akademiya.” She put her hands on her hips triumphantly, as if she had stated something worthy being proud of.
“So I ask again, Lo—Dori, how may I be of assistance to you?” Lore pleaded, nervous. The few experiences she’d had in the Akademiya had been nerve racking, the previous Sages being strangely eagle eyed about everything she’d done or said, jumping at imaginary shadows.
There had been this handsome man there during her first visit, but she hadn’t seen him since. He’d been the main reason she’d even bothered continuing that assignment, on the vain hope she could learn who he was. But the few contacts she had were clueless or didn’t care for anyone who didn’t work directly for him, so Lore had let that beautiful bastard slip into obscurity.
Maybe this job would help her find him again.
I mean, if this Scribe was this important, surely he would know who that handsome white haired man is.
She passed a strange purple card to Lore, the translucent purple crystal as gaudy as Dori’s public image, the smile on her face so dazzling as she placed a scary amount of trust into Lore’s hand.
“That’s a personal card; it’ll give you full access to my accounts. Do what you need to do to convince the Scribe to open the doors to the Akademiya to the Lord of Sangemah Bay!”
By the time Lore pulled my jaw off the floor, Dori was reclining back on the strange purple genie she’d been on earlier, her amusement at how Lore was doing a bad job of keeping her composure evident as Dori laid on her stomach, head propped up on her elbows as she watched Lore recover.
This was when Lore’s patience finally gave out.
If she wanted me to treat her differently, then she could suffer some ire.
“But why me?” Lore pleaded again, the curious desperation at needing to know evident in her tone, “I’m not good enough for this yet. I shouldn’t even have had a chance at this opp—“
“Because I have a knack for this, and there is just,” she put her chin in one hand and did a little twirl with her newly freed one, “something about you that I haven’t figured out, so giving you a challenge should help me figure out what I’m seeing in ya~!”
She paused, as she mulled something over, then quickly adding “Plus, unlike a lot of my usual choices, you are single and willing to move around for the job!”
…does she expect me to use my body?
Dori was technically the ‘safest’ of the obscenely wealthy Merchants to work for. She was pleasant to deal with, good with people, and always did what she could to get you what you need, so long as you were willing to pay her absurd prices, which combined with her knack to always be near when someone was desperate, is how she maintained her absurd wealth.
But Lore was still waiting for the other shoe to drop.
She had heard the rumors of what happened to others, like the unhealthy expectations of those who worked for certain Snezhnayan merchants. The safest option for even attempting to work for a snezhnayan outfit was the Northland Bank, but that still came with the overt threat of ‘openly working with the Fatui in a city openly tolerating them’.
So was this the downside to working for Dori, and becoming a useful asset?
But as she contemplated it, Lore wasn’t exactly against it. She’d been raised in Mondstadt, and while she had never been as sexually adventurous as people had seemed to expect from a native Mondstadter, but she had really enjoyed the ‘free-ness’ it left on the air, and the way a lot of the people of Mondstadt were open about the topic.
Her training in Liyue had stunted that a little, with its focus on ‘sexual contracts’ and her just not having the time to fully understand what that had meant or entailed, and she wasn’t exactly sure what her value in this scenario mi—
“As amusing as it is to just watch you exist,” the tiny merchant spoke up, her tone full of amusement, “I do have work I need to get back to. Can I trust you to give this your all?”
“YESMA’AMI’LLSEEMYSELFOUTBYE!’ Lore raced through her goodbye as fast as she exited the room Dori was using as an impromptu office, nobody capable of stopping her as she headed straight for the room she had been assigned.
She needed to pack, ignore the dossier that was sitting on her desk, and definitely not think about how her boss might be expecting her to use her body!!!
————–
As midnight approached, Lord Dori Sangemah Bay took a deep breath and stretched, relieving the tired aching from her body. Thanks to her new potential investment, her deals with the Akademiya and the Matras would only be strengthened, and she had finally finished the outlines of what needed to be done and prepared, so that the new Acting Grand Sage would not be disappointed.
Looking through her purple tinted diamond spectacles at the dossier she had of the Acting Grand Sage, she couldn’t help but think fondly of her new accountant.
Alhaitham was a good investment when he had only been the Scribe of the Akademiya, but the man was crafty. Unless it was Dori herself, the man often outright refused any offers her traders brought to him, the highly competent Vision wielder always managing to get what he needed elsewhere.
But her new dorky accountant might pique his interest, as her attitude was different to the usual sorts she sent to deal with the Akademiya.
Scholars needed strict folk who wouldn’t budge and knew how to handle relevant laws, to ensure their reputation and Dori’s would suffer as minimally as possible.
As Dori played out the meeting in her head, something about the conversation annoyed her.
Given how her usual suspects knew how to read between the lines and predict her needs and wants, she realised that she might have accidentally insinuated that she was expecting her new accountant to actively seduce the Acting Grand Sage.
Picking up the quill which she’d been using all night, she pondered on whether or not to write the poor girl a note, to say it wasn’t an expectation. She had others who she might’ve tapped if that was what she required, and that sort of assignment meant she was required to actively say what she expected of her seducer.
But as the waning moon glared through her open window, sleep pulling at her consciousness, Dori dismissed the notion, and left her office.
Lorelei was a smart girl and a capable accountant; she should know Dori wouldn’t expect that of her.
But if she did manage it, she’d give the girl a notable raise. She would definitely have earned it.
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