The Billion-Credit Bow
"That researcher you invested in has finally delivered the invention of the century."
"Ah…."
Now I remembered.
So this was the thing I'd always brushed off as too much of a hassle to sit through. The researcher had actually pulled it off — the hair loss cure, of all things?
He was a far more impressive man than I'd given him credit for. And yet I'd genuinely had no idea about any of it.
"So? Is there anything you want?"
"What I want, you say…?"
What did I want. Honestly? To meet Sky.
If I asked Grandfather, I could probably see her this very minute, but that wasn't what I wanted. I'd go to her when I'd grown close enough to people that I felt worthy of standing before Sky again.
So what should I do in the meantime? Ah, right. Getting along with people took money — plenty of it — which meant I ought to ask him to expand the assets under my control.
"Please increase the assets I'm allowed to manage."
"That's all?"
"Yes."
"You truly have changed, haven't you. My grandchild… you've finally come to your senses…."
Grandfather was so overjoyed that I'd stopped living in dissolution that his eyes had gone damp with tears. Granted, I'd fooled around plenty myself, but my parents had been far worse offenders. Ah — so that's why he'd always been so good to me…?
Still, seeing Grandfather happy put me in a good mood too. And this was all thanks to Sky.
"Then I shall see to it that everything you wish to do is approved."
"I'm sorry? That's rather a lot…."
"You are to inherit what comes after me, so think of this as preparation for that day. Do you have any idea how enormous the gifts your transformation has brought our company?"
"Understood. I accept."
Grandfather was firm, so I gave up resisting and took it. He was offering to bankroll my money-burning — refusing would have been absurd. And honestly, even by my own assessment, I'd hauled in some genuinely impressive prizes: an S-Grade magic circuit bearer with the potential to reach SSS-Grade, young as she still was, and the hair loss cure on top of that. Laid out like that… yeah, those were some serious hauls.
"Now run along; this old man is busy. You carry a woman's body now, so do take good care of it."
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
Grandfather had swept in like a storm, handed me staggering authority, and swept right back out again. Once he was gone, my secretary and I set off for the laboratory of the researcher behind the hair loss cure.
"Miss Salazar! Welcome, welcome!"
He greeted me looking much improved, though still scruffy around the edges. Even so — this man had invented the hair loss cure, the discovery of the century. That called for a reward.
"Anything you want? Name it, and it's yours."
"Please, never stop investing in me!"
"That's all?"
"Of course! Research is my one joy in life — all I ask is to keep on doing it!"
"Fine. The funding stays. So what's next on your agenda?"
The man who'd cracked baldness was surely capable of something even greater, wasn't he? An artificial heart next, perhaps? I let myself look forward to whatever he would produce — I believed, without a sliver of doubt, that it would be extraordinary.
The researcher drew himself up with pride and declared:
"I, Alex, shall build the machine that makes edible bubble candy!"
"Uh-huh. Right. Good luck with that."
Genius and eccentric, they say, are separated by a paper's width. This one had planted his flag squarely on the eccentric side of that line…. Still, I believed he'd manage something successful someday.
I sent the sparkling-eyed Alex off as he bustled back to his research, then returned to the limousine with my secretary.
"So. What now?"
Honestly? I had nothing to do. Yurina had enrolled at Salazar Academy and would be in class right about now. These days I was always at her side, so doing something on my own like this felt strangely novel.
The old me would have rounded up friends of my own caliber, called in some women, torn up the town, and drunk until dawn — but that option was off the table now. I refused to wreck the clean body Sky had given me, which ruled out implants as well.
So, exercise? What could this body even do? The bow, maybe. I'd enjoyed it as a kid, back before the implants went in — back when I had no auto-targeting doing the aiming for me.
"Secretary. Take me to the archery range."
"Yes, ma'am. Right away."
The range, seen again after so long, was exactly as I remembered. The problem wasn't the range itself, though — it lay elsewhere. Namely, my old bow no longer fit this body. So I turned straight around and made for the shop of an elf who still carved bows by hand even in this day and age. My old one had been custom-fitted there, too.
"Not a thing has changed."
Taking in the shop, utterly untouched since my childhood visits, I opened the door.
"Please, I'm begging you — isn't there any way at all?!"
A woman's voice came wailing through, so choked with tears it was nearly a scream. What on earth was it this time?
Curious, I stepped deeper inside and found a half-elf on her knees before the visibly troubled elf shopkeeper, clutching a bow snapped clean in half as she pleaded her case.
"Please, fix it…! This bow is as dear to me as my own life…! Without it, I can't compete…!"
"I keep telling you, I can't. We elves must never lay hands on an exile's possessions."
"I swear I'll never breathe a word to anyone…!"
"Still no!"
Why did it feel like everywhere I went, somebody needed saving? Aigoo. I suppose this was another of Sky's punishments, too. Sighing inwardly, I approached the pair.
"Why can't you fix it for her?"
"Who…?"
"Maximiliano Salazar. There were… circumstances, and now I'm a woman."
"Young Master Salazar! It really has been ages! Ah — the thing of it is, if we elves touch an exile's property, we're exiled right alongside them. I could do it in secret, but this young lady hasn't the coin to make such a risk worth taking."
So it had come down to money after all. Time for another round of burning money, then. What's that? A pushover who hands out cash everywhere she goes? This is the only way I know how to stay on good terms with people — what of it. Besides, Sky had saved me; surely she'd smile on my saving someone else.
"What does a repair like this usually run?"
"Normally, 10 million credits would cover it…."
"I'll pay 1 billion. Fix it."
"I'm sorry…?"
"I'm sorry…?"
The elf and the half-elf echoed each other in perfect unison. I was offering to cover the repair — what exactly was the complaint? He takes the money and fixes it; she takes her bow back and goes off to whatever tournament it was. Everyone wins.
"Not interested?"
"Not at all!"
"No, no!"
"Then I'll go pick out a bow of my own. Get to work. Oh — Secretary?"
"Yes, ma'am. Processing the payment now."
I left the payment to her and headed deeper into the shop in search of a bow for myself — whereupon the half-elf, who had been on her knees mere moments ago, came hurrying up to me.
"Maximiliano Salazar… as in the Salazar, of Salazar Industries…?"
"Yeah."
"Why would someone like you… for someone like me…?"
"If you don't want it, say the word and I'll cancel on the spot."
You just won the lottery, kid. Enjoy it. If you'd met the old me — the one from before Sky — you'd have been tossed aside somewhere by now.
"No! I'm overjoyed, truly! But… what are you doing right now?"
"Picking out a bow for myself?"
"Oh! Then how about this one? It looks like a perfect match for you, my lady."
"This one?"
I took the bow she'd chosen and drew it once. The string glided back smooth as water, and the whole thing fit my frame as if it had been measured for it. In the same breath, I realized how remarkable this half-elf was — we'd met mere minutes ago, and she'd found my perfect match on the very first try.
"Hey. What's your name?"
"I'm Serena."
"Serena. Teach me the bow. As it happens, I've been meaning to find an instructor."
"Pardon…? Me?"
"Yeah. I'll pay you."
"No, no! I'll teach you for free! You saved this bow — my very life!"
And just like that, the instructor hunt was over. Half or not, she was still an elf; she'd have to shoot well. And from what I'd overheard earlier, she competed in tournaments. If she ever took a title, I'd be learning straight from a champion — hardly a bad deal.
With Serena settled as my archery teacher, I spent a while drawing the bow she'd picked, over and over.
"It really is a perfect fit."
"See? One look, and I just knew it was the one!"
The more I drew it, the more it felt like a bow made for me and no one else. With this, there'd be no need for a custom order at all. So there I stood, drawing away in perfect contentment until my frail, implant-free arms went sore — and before long, the elf came over to us with the mended bow. His expression couldn't seem to decide between joy and dread.
With visibly trembling hands, he passed the fully restored bow to Serena.
"Here you are."
"Good work."
"You must never, ever let slip that I was the one who repaired it…!"
"I know, I know. Oh — and I'll take this one."
"I'll remember, I swear!"
Even if he did get caught and ruined, I could always take him on staff. Well then — time to go put this bow to work.