Valentina

Click!

The door of the carriage opened, and Remus stepped in, looking slightly tired, but otherwise well.

“I thought I would miss the ship,” he said as he took the seat opposite of me.

“I am sure you could have been able to keep it on the port an hour extra, if you wanted. Mr. Director of Trade,” I teased, and his cheeks reddened a little, while he shook his head.

“If it is a common ship, I might, but Ateriz’s Glaze wouldn’t stop, even a minute for me,” he said.

Ateriz is a big company; Remus isn’t powerful enough to make them listen to him, just out of ego.

“I am sure you will one day,” I said innocently, like talking to a kid.

To which he just shook his head with a smile, but I could see the ambition, the ambition in his eyes. It is one of the things I liked about him, the most.

“So, why are you going to Padim again?” he asked. “To bring a friend,” I replied after a moment of silence.

He arched his brow, like that beautiful redhead of his.

I didn’t answer, and he didn’t press.

Most of the journey to the port went in silence, each busy in his own thoughts.

Soon, the carriage stopped, but we didn’t get out immediately and instead watched the glaze docking into the Greltheaven. The luxury passenger ship, runs from Iman to Meldhorn City, staying in each city for an hour.

The ship is white and long and unlike most ships; it didn’t have the masts. It runs on magical engines, which are expensive to run.

They are also slower; at least those used on this ship. There are some that give as much speed as the masted ship or even more, but even Ateriz couldn’t afford to place them on these passenger ships.

“Let’s go,” I said as the ship docked and it opened for the passengers.

We walked to the ship, with Remus's guards walking behind and in front of us. They showed our ticket and were led to our suite; a two-bedroom suit.

I had upgraded it after he told me he was leaving for Owlspring tonight.

“It is a nice suite.” He praised. “It is,” I agreed. It was also expensive, but I could afford it.

We took our seat by the large balcony, watching the port and soon, the hour was over, and it was time for the ship to leave.

It hummed gently and began to move; within a few minutes, it was out of the port and moving toward the Owlspring in bright moonlight.

Remus didn’t say anything; he watched through the balcony till the city disappeared, before taking out the files and beginning to read through them.

‘I think this would be the right time to talk about that,’ I thought.

“Some little birds wanted me to ask you whether you will leave the position of vice-director, now that you have been promoted?” I asked.

There had been more than ten people who had asked me that question. I didn’t ask him for them, I am genuinely curious myself.

“I have no interest in keeping the position forever; the work is too much, but I won’t be leaving quickly. I want to take the trade to a certain height before I leave the position,” he replied, without looking up from the files.

I didn’t just enjoy the scenery, but also worked.

Currently, my company has forty-one projects, big and small, and a week later, we will add a few more. Nearly every week, we are getting three to four projects, and a third of them are coming from the baronies.

Both from the Lauryl Ton and the territories.

The town is growing at an amazing speed. Every time I go there, it seems to have got bigger, and it is getting bigger.

It was a wise decision to invest in the quarry; we have got the license for the second one, nearly three times larger than the first one. A big investment, but we will earn tenfold from it if the appetite of the town keeps growing.

“You can sleep in the main room,” I said to him, seeing him getting. “The second one is fine to me; it is safer,” he replied with a smile and went to the adjacent room.

I worked for an hour and a half more, before laying down on the bed to sleep. Though not before I deployed warning wards and kept the wand, under my sleeve.

Nothing could be said when there was Remus.

Hun!

I was woken up by movements and the wand under my sleeve appeared in my hand, but I immediately put it away, seeing it was Remus.

He had all showered up and was ready, even before the sky lit up.

“Don’t get up,” he said, seeing me getting up. “It is fine,” I replied.

I am not a morning person, but I wake up early every day.

Though not this early.

I quickly freshened up and changed. After that, we went to the restaurant for breakfast and watched the ship moving through the confluence toward the port.

The city looked really beautiful at dawn.

“Best of luck,” I said, as he was about to disembark.

His first brothel, outside the Deerpond, is opening today. He is nervous about it, but also confident.

“Thank you,” he said with a small smile and disembarked, with his guards following behind him.

I watched him as he reached the carriage, where the redhead was waiting for him. He talked to her, before stepping into the carriage. Within a minute, the carriage disappeared, and I walked back into the suit.

I sat down in the chair and cast a couple of messages spells, with the first one being to Lena.

She is on a mission and will take another two weeks before she can return. I wish she was with me; I missed her a lot.

I relished myself in her memories for a while before sending other messages. When I was done, I lay on the bed and cast a spell.

It is forbidden to cast an offensive inside spell on a ship over Grade O. Thankfully; it is what I am casting.

It may be a Grade O spell, but it is a base for Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3, and above spells.

I incant silently and a spell materializes.

A stone spike appeared in front of me, floating in the air.

It is a palm-sized size smooth grey stone, with a needle-sharp end. It could easily tear through a man. It is a perfect weapon to kill and far more dangerous and less messy than the fireball, that novices love so much.

I have been working on the changes to it.

I want to make it a little more robust and slightly slimmer. The changes will increase the weight and drag through the spin, but it will give it more power and there will be fewer chances of fragmentation before the impact.

I had already calculated the cost of mana, which is only 2.4% greater than before.

It might not seem much, but when one launches hundreds of them through Stone Barrage or thousands through Stone Rain; that light increase becomes huge.

I had started with the changes, and in a few seconds; I finished and immediately cast a few more spells.

The room was covered in brown light and a stone shield appeared in the distance, while my eyes began to shine in a misty light.

Bang!

I released the spell, and immediately it struck against the stone shield. It splintered into pieces, but I was more focused on the stone shield, which had a small crack in it.

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Seeing that, a smile couldn’t help, but appear on my face.

The Stone Shield is a Grade 1 spell; it is not easy to create even a small crack, with a Grade 0 spell.

The cracks filled, and another Stone Spike appeared. I had also changed, but these changes are slightly different than the last Stone Spike.

Bang!

It crashed against the stone shield, but there was only a single crack. Despite that, there was a smile on my face.

I summoned another and then another spike and continued shooting them at the Stone Shield. Before I knew it, the ship undocked from the port and began to move toward the Padim.

Three hours passed by, and I stopped. I cleared the mess I had made before sending a message.

Soon, the city of Padim came into view.

It is a big city, not as big as Owlspring, but still big. It is part of the Merchant Stage of Belnin; the richest of all merchant states.

All merchant stages are rich, but Belnin is the richest.

Soon, the ship was docked, and I got out and showed my documents to the guards before getting out of the ship.

Click!

Some distance away, an unmarked carriage is parked there. I reached it, before opening its door and stepping inside.

“Thank you for coming,” said a beautiful woman in front of me.

She is a tall woman with forest-brown hair. She always had a mirth in those brown eyes, but today, she is series.

“He is my friend, too,” I replied.

The woman in front of Relys. He is the one, who introduces me to her in the academy.

There was a silence for a few minutes, before she turned to me. “I had negotiated the terms and while they were not good. They are the only way; he could be released. Make sure he signs them,” she said.

I have read the terms, and they are better than I had expected.

“You have done far better than I had expected. So, don’t blame yourself,” I replied, to which she smiled mirthlessly.

He hates the terms, but he had agreed to sign them. It is the only reason he is getting released early, rather than serving another twenty-two years.

Soon, the carriage stopped.

“Tell him, I said hi,” said Relys, unable to hide her emotions. “I will,” I said and walked out.

She is the reason why he could get a release, but she is coming to witness the moment. Her identity is sensitive and it wouldn’t be wise for her to come inside.

I walked for a few minutes before appearing in front of the huge, imposing building.

Padim Jail.

Click!

I showed the documents to the guards and went inside after the verification was done and was led into the small meeting room, where five people were already sitting.

Three are sitting on one side and the two on the other.

“Mage Valentina, I am Jacob Russ,” said the handsome middle-aged with smooth chocolate skin.

“Mr. Russ,” I said and shook his hand. He is a lawyer that Relys hired.

I nodded at three sitting on the other side, before taking the seat and discussing the things, under the privacy spell.

Click!

We were discussing this when the door opened, and two guards walked inside. Between them is a tall, handsome man, wearing mana-suppressing cuffs.

“Valentina, you are looking ravishing, as always.” He said with a signature grin.

The man is tall with a handsome face. He had deep blue eyes and dark hair, which seemed to reach his neck and he had even grown a beard, which he once confessed to hate.

I looked at the man, who was once brimming with ambitions. His eyes were filled with dreams that he knew would succeed; nobody had doubted that.

Alas, fate had played a cruel hand on him.

“You are looking not bad yourself, Ed,” I replied, and the grin on his face became wider.

“Mr. Amellus, we have informed the terms to your lawyer, and they have agreed on your behest,” “Sign this agreement and my client will take back the case against you,” said the old man sitting opposite us.

The smile disappeared from Ed’s face, and he looked at the guards.

“Gentlemen, will you?” he asked to the two guards. A second later, the guard on the left took out the key and opened his cuffs.

He messaged his wrist before taking the agreement from his hand.

The agreement states that he wouldn’t use the mentioned designs for two and a half decades and wouldn’t step into the merchant state. There are many other small conditions.

Relys had been negotiating with that bastard for more than three years.

It wouldn’t have come to this if Ed had simply accepted. That those designs weren’t his, but it is the thing, he is unwilling to do.

They were his life’s work; he would rather spend a spent like in jail than do that.

He finished reading the agreement and took the pen from the table, before signing it without speaking a single word. The whole room is silent; the only sound that is coming out is the scratching of a pen.

As he signed the last page, he shook, nearly falling, but stopped himself, before I could move to support him.

“Thank you for your cooperation. Mr. Amellus” said the old man as he finished looking in agreement and nodded at Russ.

“Mage Amellus, Mage Valentina; I will go and finish the formalities. It wouldn’t take more than an hour,” said Russ and walked out of the room with the old man and others.

Even guards left, leaving us alone in the room.

“He took everything for me, Valentina. My life’s work, my reputation, my life,” he said, shaking, with tears falling from his eyes.

It is hard to see him like this. The man once was so confident, reduced to such a state.

Ed is a Mage, but also an architect; not a simple architect, but an architect, specialized in designs of magical infrastructure. Ed’s specialty lies in magic towers and for a decade, he had worked for Sewal Nehdis.

The greatest architect of the Belnin, a man who is Lv. 40+ and said to have a great chance of reaching Lv. 50.

He is a strategic resource of a merchant state.

So, when people like him, accuse their own students of stealing their designs, nobody could doubt their words. Even if they doubted it, they wouldn’t investigate.

They didn’t give him a fair trial. If not for Relys, he wouldn’t have been able to get out of jail before his twenty-five-year sentence was over.

“Yes, he did, but there is still life and I have confidence that you will create a hundred more works that are far more magnificent, that is what that bastard had stolen from you,” I said, and they were not empty words.

I have complete confidence in my friend to do that.

“I don’t think, that will happen. The man had thoroughly destroyed me; my reputation is in such a state, that even you couldn’t hire me. No place will give me a license to practice my profession,” he said mirthlessly.

“You are right, it will be hard for you, but you will find a way and I will be there with you,” I said, taking his hands in mine.

The Nielson Guild wouldn’t hire him; I had asked, and they have straight-up refused. However, something could be done about him getting a license.

I will request Remus and beg him if needed; I am sure he will help me.