“Jai!” My sister screamed with excitement the next morning when I finally had time to reunite with my family. I managed to catch her as she leaped from my father’s shoulders. She had always enjoyed it when he lifted her for piggyback rides while riding sitting on his shoulders was a pleasure that she was almost too old to enjoy.
The look of love and excitement she broadcasted as she fell from his shoulders to jump into my arms released a tension I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Leaving my family to travel on their own bothered me. I worried about what might happen. Finding out they had been cheated out of the berthing assignment I’d purchased was almost a relief.
I had taken as much care as possible to ensure my family arrived safely. I had purchased what should have been secure berths that had the highest quality protection, only to find that berth confiscated and the ship’s captain callous enough not even to offer a refund.
Gwen had filled me in on how my family had been forced to accept a cabin meant for the crew. The only saving grace was that I had purchased storage devices for them, so luggage, furniture, kitchen gear, and business paraphernalia didn’t need to be stored or abandoned.
She had found out and informed me which ship’s captain was responsible and the Clan that owned the shipping line. Normally, I wouldn’t have been able to retaliate. The captain and ship were long gone, and the Clan was on the other side of the ocean. But I had some economic power I could leverage now.
Clan Zuo, who owned the ship, would find themselves under embargo. They would receive none of the communication devices I controlled the production of. Their ships would have to remain isolated. I would make sure other shipping lines received comm devices and let it be known that any devices that wind up with Clan Zuo will jeopardize future upgrades and device innovations as they become available.
It wasn’t much, but Clan Zuo had to know that sometimes it is the power behind a person you needed to be aware of. The inability to use communication devices would impact their bottom line, especially when other ships could stay in contact with shore and leadership.
The chatter between family members as we sat down to breakfast was a cacophony of sound as people spoke over each other, each family member demanding my attention. I embraced this moment of perfect happiness, joining in the confusion of questions, laughter, and fights over the last muffin.
Finally, my mother, as all mothers do, restored order. Geon and Syha were reminded they had school and quickly washed up and stuffed books and homework into packs before collecting their lunch and rushing out the door. Not without the obligatory complaining and begging to be allowed to stay home and spend time with me.
“The school is acceptable?” I asked once they had left. It had taken time to get a school system established throughout the territory. That effort was made easier once I’d interested Aki, my librarian and scribe, in creating a curriculum for non-cultivators to follow.
Gwen and her office had been responsible for organizing facilities and hiring teachers and staff for each school. A task made more difficult because of the citizens’ distrust of anything to do with the changes we worked to implement.
Lord Chon had broken his people, leaving them demoralized and in despair. People were wary of registering sons and daughters in a town where the Lord had stolen and victimized anyone who caught his fancy. It would take time to repair the damage he had done, longer than the few months I had been ruling.
“It is,” my mom replied. “The Headmaster has been quick to reach out to parents and explain when staffing changes occur and the qualifications of each new preceptor as well as the scope of their knowledge, and why a replacement preceptor might be appointed.”
“They have had to replace the preceptors already?” I asked, worried that something might be off if that was the case. The schools were just getting started, and there should be no reason to replace preceptors at this point unless people had gotten past the screening process that shouldn’t have.
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“They have been shuffling instructors around, placing people in different positions to find who works best teaching different classes.
“They have tried to minimize those changes, so the children have a sense of stability, but some people were slotted into positions they were ill-suited for. Individuals that do well with older students but have difficulty engaging with younger or those just beginning their education.”
Mom showed me around the house as we spoke, pointing out bric-a-brac and furniture that they had transported from our old house. Those pieces of ‘home’ gave this new house the same sense of comfort and familiarity I was used to. Eventually, we made our way outside and to her shop.
“So? What do you think?” Mom asked.
She had given me a tour of their home, but it wasn’t until we got into the shop and the workroom that she became animated. That had always been her way, and she was always most engaged when brewing potions or running her shop. Not that she neglected our family or resented the time she spent with us.
Our parents always tried to ensure we were secure in their love. They created a home with a hearth filled with comfort and warmth. But the shop was my mother’s life’s dream. The culmination of decades of experimentation and refinement to create potions that could serve the mortal community.
Alchemist pills worked wonders. They were far and away more effective than potions, but non-cultivators could not process them. They didn’t have a dantian or cultivation technique to withstand the influx of Qi and spirit energy each pill provided.
A mortal risking a pill was the last resort. One was only taken when death was all but certain. The pill was just as likely to kill the person taking the risk as whatever affliction they were trying to survive.
As my mother pointed out features of the workspace she was proud of, I noticed that the shop was already fully stocked. Potions and tinctures were available, and a window display was created to draw in the casual passerby.
“The arrival of so many immigrants had allowed the Headmaster to fill positions with people that hadn’t been available when the initial hiring was completed. He is drawing upon these new people to offer more course choices,” my father continued explaining changes to the school’s staffing.
“The preceptors more comfortable teaching a specific subject have been moved, and those capable of general studies assigned to those roles.”
It was good to know that Gwen had found people with the intelligence and initiative to work at finding the right people for the right position. And they weren’t so afraid of retaliation that they refused to make beneficial changes.
“That's good. I'll let Gwen know you approve," I said with a broad smile.
"Do that," my mother replied imperiously.
After the three of us had a good laugh at her performance, we returned to the reason we were standing in her storefront. "It looks like you are ready to open. Has the House helped procure the needed herbs or suggest methods to help you brew better potions?" I asked.
"The grand opening is the day after tomorrow," father informed me, the pride evident in his voice. "Maybe then I can talk your mother into a bit of private time."
He had used that same off-color suggestion for as long as I could remember, and it had the same results every time. Mother blushed in embarrassment before elbowing him in the stomach with enough force to force him to grunt with laughter, holding his arms up in surrender.
"They've been most helpful," mother said, ignoring my father and his antics. "I've managed to increase my inventory with new potions. Bone-heal, blood-boost, cure disease, and cure poison.
"Xinxe, the Alchemist who was most helpful, informed us that the cure disease and poison potions were discovered and created during the by-product of experiments with a plant you discovered.
"The Golden Lodoicea?
"She said the plant had a unique property, one that absorbs corruption. And that they had found that brewing the plant with water had an antiseptic property. If soaked in bandages and applied to a festering wound, the wound was free of infection within hours."
"I’m happy to hear the plant is proving more useful. It does an amazing job of cleansing. I had to plant a field of them to clear the contamination of the ocean’s water after the former Lord had allowed the town’s waste by-products to be dumped directly in the bay,” I said.
“Alchemists across the Empire are experimenting with the plant, hoping to create a more effective healing pill. One that absorbs the impurity build-up that other pills leave behind.”
“I wonder if the potion they developed might serve to remove those impurities?” Mother asked.
I was sure they had tested that idea, but I would have to ask Na. She was the most versed in the healing arts among my cultivators.
I’d have her set up procedures to monitor the changes imbibing that potion might make. If it worked to remove the impurity built-up, it would be another option for a product our territory could mass-produce and sell throughout the Empire.