As we walk through the bustling streets of the city, I try to comfort Lucillus by saying, "Hey, man, don't beat yourself up too much." The sound of our footsteps echoes against the cobblestone path while the busy crowd surrounds us. I reassure him, "We were caught off guard. Next time, we'll be more prepared."

Lucillus remains on high alert, scanning the parameter for potential threats. He looks at me with a stern expression and says, "There won't be a next time, hopefully." I shrug, not believing his statement. The tension in the air is palpable, and I can't help but feel a sense of unease.

I frown as I stare ahead, feeling guilty for not considering how my actions would affect others. I had planned on taking a few days to practice my magic and find a way to protect myself and others, but I didn't think about the consequences. "I've missed everyone," I say. "I'll go back to work tonight, alright?"

In response, the [Guard] shakes his head and looks away for a second.

“If you think I took it harshly, you'll be surprised when you go back, Hu—Joey. Tiberius and Quintus have been working themselves to death. They probably blame themselves for what happened after you gave them a job.”

“What?!”

Lucillus gives me a side glance, "you paid off their debts, and you got beaten up by [Soldiers] in front of them. You don't see the irony?"

I grind my teeth.

“Damn it. I’ll talk to Tiberius and Quintus,” I say.

“Good. Don’t tell her, but Clodia was really worried about you too. I don’t know why, but she really likes you,” Lucillus says, then sighs, “same for Flaminia.”

“You really got the pink fever, huh?” I smirk at the stoic [Guard]. “Why don’t you ask her out? You look good. Maybe smile occasionally, and you’ll get her.”

Lucillus made a sound resembling a low growl directed at me, clearly trying to ignore this topic.

“Come on,” I elbow his armored side. “I can teach you how to court a woman. You are clearly interested in her.”

“Shut up. I'm not... and Flaminia is probably busy with someone else. I heard she was dating Plinius, the [Sergeant]. That guy is on track to have a great military career, Joey. I am not even close to a promotion. And even if I was, I’m just part of the Watch. So, what can I offer?”

Ohhh.

I rub my hands together, about to school this poor soul on the art of love.

“Lucillus, my friend, you are looking at the problem in the worst possible way! But listen to Uncle Joey, and you will have so much success with women you may even have to bring some of those kittens back to the shelter because you will have too much on your hands.

“First, chicks dig men who display the ability to get stuff, not necessarily those who have stuff. This Plinius is a [Sergeant], right? That’s not much in my books. But as you have said, he is on track for a promotion. Plus, when I heard him address Flaminia, he sounded like your typical cocky douche who’s not afraid of shooting his shot. You are overly negative and too shy for your own good! You gotta put on those peacock feathers and dance if you don’t want to have idiots snatch away all the good ones!”

“What do you mean by ‘peacock feathers’?” Lucillus looks at me, confused.

“That you gotta be loud, Lucillus. Be a good man, but also show it in the right way. Don’t hide. Work for your promotions and let the others hype you up the same way they are hyping up this Plinius dude. Do you really think he’s better than you? A guy who commands a unit of speciesist idiots? You’ve been the kindest person to me, and you even took your time to explain to me the cool things about the city. You clearly have some culture in that head of yours. Use it! Take your strong points and put them to use both at work and in your romantic life. Then—”

“Joey!” Suddenly, we hear a familiar female voice, and I see a pink-haired Elf walking toward us.

Talk about the Devil.

“The timing of hers,” I mutter before switching to a louder voice, “Flam! What’s up?!”

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Flaminia approaches us and actually gives me a hug.

“I heard what happened. I was coming to visit you today. Tiberius and Quintus have been on edge since they came back to work. We need you back in the bakery.”

“Wow, I had no idea so many people were worried. It’s been what, a couple of days?”

“Yes, it’s not been too long, Joey,” she says, releasing me from the hug. “I warned you about [Soldiers], though. You need to stay away from them.”

A quick flash of anger goes through me, so fast that neither of my friends notices.

“I have my own ways of dealing with that, Flam,” I smile. “Don’t worry. I was just working on a little hobby of mine.”

“A hobby?”

“A little magic. I just got caught up in it and lost track of time. I’ll be back tonight. I was going to the Watch with Lucillus because someone wanted to talk to me. Oh, and by the way, Lucillus really helped the other night. Things would have certainly been worse without him. This brother here was really bold. He could have let me take a beating on my own since I was the one swinging. But instead, he put more than a couple of those douchebags to sleep.”

“I—” Lucillus stumbles on his words as Flaminia’s fluttering eyelashes turn to him, surprised.

“Oh, wow,” she says, stunned. “Thank you, Lucillus.”

She puts a hand over his arm, and you can see the poor [Guard] about to seize with a severe case of the virgin pot.

“How’s work going, anyway? Has Clodia put together the suppliers?”

“Hah! She wanted to talk to you precisely about that,” Flaminia says, coming to my side. “Let’s walk, shall we? I’ll tell you what Clodia’s been up to. She’s extremely stressed out. Her mother sent her a letter telling her she would kill if someone touched you again. She was out of town to visit one of the lakes when you were assaulted.”

Damn, the granny doesn’t play.

“These Elven grandmas are ruthless,” I nod at Flaminia. “I put a hole in a wall by mistake today, and for a second, I thought my landlady would force me to marry her niece to make up for it.”

“What? Why would she?” Flaminia frowns at me.

“Wait. You really don’t know? I haven’t told you?”

She shakes her head.

“Agostina is pushing to arrange a marriage between her niece and me. If I accept, she said she’d teach me everything she knows about magic.”

Flaminia and Lucillus almost faceplant on the ground.

“What?! And you haven’t told me?! How?! When?! Did you accept?!” Flaminia shouts right in my face.

“Jesus,” I say, putting my hands up in defense and stepping back, “calm down, woman. I said no, obviously. I haven’t even seen this girl, and you expect me to marry her? Nope, thank-you-very-much.”

“Well... if she’s talking about Domitilla... rotten roots,” Flaminia mumbles to herself with a big frown.

Lucillus looks away from the pink-haired Elf and me.

What’s happening here?

“Yo. What’s happening? Is this Domitilla cute?”

Flaminia smirks in response.

“Nah. She’s as ugly as they make them.”

“Holy—are you kidding me? She’s hot! She’s hot, isn’t she?! Flaminia, talk to me! Where are you going?!” I scream.

...

Flaminia had to shop for some groceries at the market, so Lucillus and I said goodbye to her as we moved toward the Watch.

“Lucillus, I always wanted to ask,” I say, pointing at the Watch building. “How come most of the buildings in the Pratus are made of marble? Isn’t that stupidly expensive?”

Lucillus looks at me with a grin before turning his eyes to the majestic Watch building and smiling proudly.

"Let me tell you about Amorium," Lucillus begins with a hint of pride in his voice. "It's not your average city, Joey. The capital might have a lot of political power, but they don't have what we have: the most fertile soil on the entire continent. Of course, we do use magic to enhance it, but the fact remains that our land is simply superior. That's why our city is so prosperous. As it expanded, we also uncovered more natural reserves of marble, which added to our wealth."

I nodded, impressed. "I've heard some stuff about the marble," I said. "But what about other cities? Do they have access to similar resources? Like, what's so special about Amorium?"

“Again, while Amorium does use many [Green Mages], it’s because there are enough raw resources for them to work with. You can ask your landlady about it: [Green Mages] labored a lot to enhance the already surprising soil fertility. At this moment, no one knows exactly what makes the soil so good, but we know that only the Vanedeni have got something over us. And that’s… remarkable.”

Huh.

“So, we uncovered many marble quarries and went through them like a worm through an apple—sorry, no offense.”

“None taken? I still haven’t gotten the whole ‘Worm’ thing. Go ahead, though.”

“Having all this marble has made it cheaper to build with it than with wood or other materials. That’s why so much of the city is made of marble. Now, the prices are higher than when the city was born around a hundred years ago, and a lot of it gets exported around the continent and to other continents too. Well, almost all of them.”

“No marbles for Humans, I suspect.”

Lucillus nods.

“Cities on Teiko sometimes try to purchase Elven marble through intermediaries since we have a trade embargo with them. It is the responsibility of the various Watch units to manage and prevent any contraband from being smuggled out of the country by corrupt individuals, both Human and Elven."

"Wow," I say, impressed. "It's like the DEA of marble. Why don't you join one of those units? It sounds like a really cool thing to do."

"The Captain determines the assignment of guards based on their talents," Lucillus sighs. "I haven't been selected for anything other than normal patrolling with Antoninus."

"By the way, are you good at math?" I suddenly ask Lucillus, an idea popping into my mind.

"Arithmetics? Sure. My aunt wanted me to become her accountant instead of trying to join the military and then the Watch."

“Tell you what, I’ll bounce some ideas off you at some point. I still gotta check on Truffles before anything else, but I think I might have a few ideas for your career.”