CHAPTER 50 (Patreon)

I slept through most of the journey back to Aligapa.

Apparently the governor had sent twenty armed men to escort us home. That was very thoughtful of him. I would have thanked them, but I was busy drooling on my mother. When I finally woke up in a proper bed, father was sitting beside it. It was a sunny morning, and some birds were singing beautifully outside my window. I looked at the wooden wall panels and realized I was in the governor’s house.

“Hey dad,” I said.

He picked me up and hugged me. I hugged him back, but he only squeezed harder. 

“Dad. Breathing.”

“Sorry.”

He loosened his grip and we untangled.  “So. Your mother tells me you fell into a cave and you refused to come out. She was worried to bits.”

“In my defense, there was something really juicy down there,” I remarked.

I had used said defense against my mother’s emotional barrage with little success. She was unreasonable sometimes.

“By juicy, you mean a giant monster?”

“Yes, but I beat it, dad,”

He chuckled and mussed my hair. “That’s my boy.”

Danek took us to a restaurant by the harbor that evening.

It was a fancy place near the harbor.. There were actual glass windows facing the water, and a man by the entrance whose entire job seemed to be opening the door for people. He bowed to Danek, then looked down at me. 

“Oh. This must be the sorcerer they call Little God?”

“That’s me.”

“You are most welcome. I hope you will enjoy our establishment.”

The restaurant was fancy with the waiters dressed up better than we were. Well, except for Danek, who had apparently had a little gray suit tailored for him. 

I nudged him. “Suits and a fancy restaurant. Business is booming, huh?”

“Three suits, actually,” Danek said and winked. “But this one is my favorite.

The table had a clean white cloth, polished cups and an intimidating row of utensils next to the plate. Father examined a little fork before putting it down again.

“What’s that one for?” father asked.

“The shellfish,” Danek said.

“Why does the shellfish need its own fork?” I asked, but not even Danek had an answer for that.

Veena arrived just as they brought the first dishes. She was wearing a fancy dress, and her hair was done up, instead of the usual braid she wore for battle. Every head in the restaurant turned as she sauntered towards our table with a confident expression.

“You started without me,” she said and glared at me. Then she snapped her fingers at a waiter and demanded he bring her the establishment’s best chair. The waiter looked at her blankly for a moment before picking a chair from an empty table. She scooted it next to me.

“I didn’t even know you were coming,” I said.

Veena turned to glare at Danek who shrugged.

“Did you order yet?” she asked.

“Not yet,” mother said. “Do you know what is good here?”

“Of course,” Veena said and snapped her fingers again at a waiter. “I’ve been here before.”

The closest waiter saw the snapping and expertly hid a frown.

I rolled my eyes. “I can see that from their faces…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, nothing…”

Danek was watching Veena as he often was. Probably not for the same reasons Alik kept ogling her. It seemed like Danek was taking notes on how to act, or how people like her acted; I couldn’t tell.

Either way, I leaned towards him to whisper. “Whatever, you’re thinking, do not ever, snap your fingers at servants. Especially ones handling your food.”

“That does seem like sound advice,” Danek said solemnly.

Veena ordered pretty much the whole menu, to Danek’s great horror. When she said she would foot the bill, the young merchant relaxed visibly.

Some drinks were brought. A pitcher of sweet wine was brought for everyone, except me and Danek who got juice. Mother also asked for a glass, giving my father a double serving of wine.

Alik sat on my other side. He had barely stopped smiling since I came back. Veena rose and raised her glass.

“A toast! To the successful expedition.”

“To getting stronger!” I said and levitated my glass to clink with her.

“To returning safely,” mother said.

“To my amazing family,” father said.

“To booming business!” Danek exclaimed.

We turned our heads to give him an amused smile.

“What?” he asked. “We are going to need the money for all kinds of things.”

“I like that we,” I said and he got embarrassed again, which was endearing. 

The food came shortly and we settled down for idle chatter. A waiter placed a large fish in the middle of the table. It had been cooked whole and covered in herbs, with slices of some yellow fruit arranged around it. There were little bowls of sauce and a platter of shellfish that still hissed from the heat.

Father immediately looked happier.

Mother started breaking the fish apart and putting pieces on my plate.

“I can do that myself,” I said. “I’m almost three.”

“I know, little gem.”

I just looked up at her, and she leaned to kiss me on the forehead.

Alik was basically vibrating with wanting to tell me something, so I looked at him in question. “I got a Class level, master.”

“Really? That’s great!”

“He has been waiting all day to tell you,” Danek said.

“I was waiting for him to wake up.”

“So what have you been training?” I asked Alik.

“I have been getting better at using Mana Absorption to enhance my Class Abilities with the spear.”

Danek let out a weary sigh. “I still rue the day I bought you that new spear. He trained with it while he was supposed to stand guard.”

I laughed. “While customers were there?”

“What customers… That day almost nobody came to the stall.”

Alik looked down at his plate and sighed. I grinned at him. I could sympathize. I would have probably practiced with magic to pass time as well. In that way we were similar. I said this to Alik and he brightened up.

“He has worked hard,” father said. “We take turns watching Danek’s business. I had to tell him to go to sleep a few times.”

“So that means you’re a lot stronger now?” I asked.

 “I can keep going for much longer now. Even after training.”

“Excellent,” I said and grinned. “We’ll train hard later and prepare for the tournament.”

“I’ll join in,” Veena blurted out excitedly. “I mean— you should train with me instead, Luka!”

The table laughed and Veena blushed. 

I remembered to put some food in my mouth, and I groaned. The grilled fish melted in my mouth and the creamy sauce lingered to make the next bite even more exquisite.

Then I asked Danek about his business and he was more than happy to share.

There had been no more trouble at the stall, apparently. A few Belator men had come through the market, but they had done nothing beyond evil glares. Business had actually improved after the harbor incident. Danek had expanded his wares and even opened a second stall. Two of his helpers per stall. After I had blown up the Belator trading vessel, Danek’s stalls didn’t even have a single thief.

All in all, I ate the best food in my life, and spent the evening with the best people in my life. I fell asleep as a happy baby.

The governor received us the next morning.

I brought Danek, naturally. Father came too, while mother stayed at our lodgings to enjoy a morning without hiking, monsters or exploding caves. Reasonable.

The governor looked considerably better than the last time I had seen him. He stood when we entered and came around his desk to greet us.

“I am relieved to see you well.”

“Me too,” I said. “I like being well.”

He smiled and gestured for us to sit. “My people examined the cave. There were fragments of artificed charges in the stone.”

“I thought so.”

“Expensive artificed bombs from Baros. You would need someone with a specialized Class to use them.”

“How do they work?” I asked eagerly.

Danek cleared his throat.

“Right,” I said. “Maybe later.”

The governor returned to his chair. “I have decided your family will stay at my estate until the tournament. I will not tolerate attacks on my honored guests.”

“Do you know who did it?” Danek asked.

“We have suspicions.”

“I have a pretty good suspicion myself,” I said. “I also think you have a spy. Or even a Spy, if you know what I mean, heh, heh.

They both gave me an exasperated look. Hmph, tough crowd. Why didn’t anyone make stupid System puns?”

Well I suppose the matter was rather serious. The governor’s expression hardened. “Explain.”

“They left an artifact to lure me deeper into the cave,” I said. “They knew I would want to look at it.”

“You are a sorcerer, which is widely known in the city,” the governor said over his steepled hands. “I am not sure this proves anything.”

“Fair, but they also learned that I had agreed to help you very quickly. Like, within hours. And somebody knew enough about our expedition to get ahead of us.”

The governor was lost in serious thought for a while. Finally he spoke again.  “I will look into it.”

“Good. Now, about the mana vein.”

I saw Danek shuffle around on his cushioned chair and sit a little straighter.

The governor looked at me and narrowed his eyes. “Yes. About that.”

Apparently, consuming the entire deposit made negotiations more complicated. I thought that was unfair. I had found it, killed the massive monster guarding it, and personally demonstrated that it contained excellent mana. What more could they want?

“The discovery remains valuable,” Danek said. “The deposit replenishes. And its presence suggests there may be others.”

I kind of zoned out at this point. This is why I had brought Danek. I focused on training my finesse, by attempting to flip the pages of the governor’s calender on the desk. He tried to keep a poker face, but I could see that it bothered him. Danek hid a smirk.

Until I ripped a page, that was. Then they both turned to glare at me.

They discussed surveys, equipment, access and things I immediately lost interest in. A spiffy male servant brought tea. Father accepted a cup and listened with the serious expression he used when Danek explained business. I was pretty sure he understood about half of it.

“Describe the centipede to him,” Danek told me.

So I did. It was best to listen to him in these matters.

The governor grunted. “I am aware of the guardian beast. We had a Scout confirm the kill.”

“Then we are discussing the size of the reward,” Danek said quickly.

“Do you have any idea how much even a small mana vein is worth when it’s full?!” the Governor said and slapped the table. “I can’t believe you drained it fully, sorcerer…”

Danek nudged me while the governor buried his face in his hands. Right. We had practiced these lines.

“Well, I needed the power to defeat Ranok,” I said.

“If House Salakin does not retain power on these islands, isn’t it better for you if the vein is empty? Danek said. “Without Luka, these veins will be discovered by Belator.”

The governor grunted again and then turned to me. I was idly wondering what the spiffy servant was still doing in the room, when I refocused back to the conversation.

“Point taken. So how confident are you?”

“Weird question,” I said, but shrugged. “Overall, I’m pretty confident in myself.”

Danek groaned and the governor glared at me.

“About Ranok.”

“Oh, right,” I said. “Yeah, I can beat him.”

The governor frowned. “He has been training. His family has brought equipment and resources from Baros to pour into him.”

I nodded. “That’s alright. Frankly, I would be a little disappointed if he hadn’t gotten stronger since the harbor incident.”

Both Danek and the governor shared a pained look. Then the governor turned to me. “This isn’t a joke, you know.”

Then he looked back at Danek. “Three percent of the House’s proceeds from further mana deposits discovered in these islands. Provided he wins the tournament.”

“Recorded in writing,” Danek said.

“Of course.”

“And acknowledged by the main family.”

The governor sighed. “Yes, yes.”

Danek clapped his hands and gave the governor a sweet smile. “Excellent.”

I activated Mana Sight while they worked out the details. Just to see if the governor had any interesting stuff in his study. I was bored, sue me.

The guard by the door had some. I assumed he was a Warrior. The woman cleaning the corridor outside had a very faint mana signature. She probably didn’t have a class. But then the servant who had brought tea returned to pick up our empty cups.

There was a lot of mana in him. More than I expected from someone whose job appeared to mostly consist of holding a tray and walking. Something under his collar also had a spell structure. I looked closer, and found he had another one.  Huh. Why would a servant be wearing artifacts?

I looked at the other servants again. Then back at him. Without a gesture I started creating a spell structure. Just in case.

“Do all your servants carry artifacts?” I asked.

The conversation stopped and the servant stopped mid-movement with his tray. For a moment, nobody moved. The governor turned a wide-eyed gaze towards the servant. Then he dropped the tray and started to run.