After being exiled from Vera’s office by Nero, Academian Quincy, and Nick headed off to see to the tasks they’d been assigned. However, as they were both temporarily going in the same direction, they spent a few awkward minutes walking the estate hallways in silence.
Academian Quincy had been following Nero’s adventures from the very beginning. Therefore, he already knew everything there was to know about Nicholas Salvatore, former director of Dorchester Gate 7 Research. Because of that, he also knew how much they had in common.
They were both born into nobility but uninterested in politics. Both of them shared a passion for science and were similarly dedicated to researching the greater mysteries. Even their sense of humor and interests were almost indistinguishable from one another. For Academian Quincy, it was like looking into the past and seeing a much younger version of himself come to life right in front of him.
As they made their way down the hallway, Nick felt Quincy staring at him. Unconsciously glancing over at the man, Nick was surprised to see Academian Quincy looking directly at him. The man’s smile and thoughtful expression made him shiver and he felt like he was being judged.
Not willing to let the awkward silence continue, Nick asked the first thing that came to mind. “So, I looked up your records earlier. I saw that you’ve been with the Royal Academy for almost 70 years, while you started your career as a mage. What made you decide to leave the Tower of Magic?”
Academian Quincy narrowed his eyes while raising a singular eyebrow as if he were both surprised and offended by the question. Seeing this, Nick immediately tried to retract his question, “You don’t have to tell me! You’re an Academian is what I mean! You’re here to ask the questions, not answer them, am I right?”
Coughing into his hand, Nick cleared his throat and tried to adopt his ‘professional persona’. Squaring his shoulders and raising his chin, he said, “Academian Quincy, apologies for my curiosity. I’ve been spending too much time with Nero and as such have forgotten propriety. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be off to go and see about getting Lord Walker those books he requested.”
Academian Quincy, while he hadn’t been expecting the question, was also a little amused at the man’s straightforward nature. Not willing to let the conversation end on such a sour note, he said, “Lord Verena, please wait a moment.”
Nick, who’d already rushed a few steps ahead, almost imperceptibly dropped his shoulders in defeat but managed to maintain his professional smile. Slowing back down, he replied, “Of course. What can I do for you, my lord?”
Academian Quincy replied easily, “Calm yourself, Lord Verena. I wasn’t offended. Around me, you don’t have to pretend to care about any of that noble etiquett we both so love to hate. Just treat me the same as you do young Lord Walker, and we’ll get along just fine, I assure you.”
Nick searched the man’s eyes as if he were trying to see through the trick. In his experience, a man who was both politically and personally as powerful as the academian was usually not one to set aside his pride so easily. Regardless, he still didn’t have much of a choice but to reply, “If that’s what you wish, then I will endeavor to do so, Academian Quincy.”
Still amused, Academian Quincy couldn’t help but wonder if Nick’s path would turn out like his did. “So, Lord Verena, do you plan to join Nero as an adherent?”
Nick, frowning at the subject change, answered, “I’m not sure. I suppose it’s likely. He’s going to need someone to keep him from getting himself killed, so I doubt I’ll have much choice.” He finished with a rueful chuckle.
Academian Quincy nodded as if that was exactly the answer he’d been expecting. “Well, just remember to finish the paperwork for the completion of your noble trials before you formally end your marriage. Otherwise, Lady Verena will have to do the noble trials in your place. Not to mention that my team has already started working on the paperwork to have House Verena join House Walker as its Dorchester subsidiary. So changing the recipient of all of Lord Walker’s properties at this point would be counter-productive.”
Academian Quincy paused, as Nick had stopped abruptly and was now a few steps behind him. Turning around, he saw the man standing there with a confused and panicked look on his face.
Nick, his tone a little unsettled, muttered a curse, “Oh, I’ll be damned to all the hells… Vera had better have a plan for this.”
—--
Nero emerged from Vera’s office like a kid being let off for summer vacation. Not for a second did he feel remorse for leaving the woman behind to deal with all the off-handed comments and ideas he’d spouted during their perusal of the different business plans he’d been ignoring. From what he could tell, she seemed both excited and annoyed at having to reconfigure all the business models she’d made for the trading houses he’d asked her to start-up on a whim.
Some of the pings had had attached memories which showed how the trading houses had been set up, and Nero had instantly pointed out where they could have done better. He’d casually explained how to set up sales and rotating pricing structures, along with customer rewards cards and impulse purchasing trends she could take advantage of. He’d even introduced her to the concept of ‘customer newsletters’ to announce special promotions and ways to increase customer retention through tracking people’s purchasing history.
As a manager of a cell phone store, he was more than familiar with the myriad of ways big businesses trick customers into buying things they don’t actually need. He considered it a time-honored and respectable practice and was a little insulted that no one bothered to do it here.
She’d also been extremely interested in getting a more in-depth explanation of how companies could lease assets and then reduce their tax load by claiming depreciation. Nero cautioned her to check the applicable laws, but she still seemed to find the concept brilliant and promised to look into it.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Regardless, none of it was his problem any longer. If everything worked out like they’d planned, he’d merely be this world’s version of a shareholder. He’d be getting a percentage of the profits while not having to do a damn thing. Even better, he wouldn’t be receiving any more pings about the business ever again!
With a smile on his face, Nero made his way back toward the living room, while almost skipping through the halls in joy.
Exiting the hallway, he saw way more people than he’d been expecting. Stuttering to a stop, he looked around to see several members of the evaluation team grouped off in huddles and going over piles of papers. He also saw servants walking around refilling drinks and attending to everyone at the various tables and couches. Cathleen and Rose were chatting with a few people in combat leathers he didn’t recognize, and Nick and Academian Quincy were off in the corner animatedly arguing about something. The sound of multiple serious conversations happening in tandem made him feel like he was walking into a town hall meeting or a funeral full of greedy inheritors.
Almost as one, the entire room fell silent and turned to look at him as if they had been waiting for him to dare show his face around these parts. Feeling put on the spot, he casually waved and said, “Hello everybody. If you have any questions or need anything, Vera will be along shortly. It’s my dinner time, and I need to go see about a burrito.”
Immediately ignoring everyone, he put his head down and walked into the room intending to make his way toward the kitchen which was on the opposite side of the room.
Unfortunately for him, he barely made it a few feet before he was swarmed by people wanting to talk with him immediately. Seeing them all start talking at once while surrounding him, he could only assume they’d been afraid of interrupting Vera and had instead been lying in wait for him to arrive without her protection.
Nero held up his hands, trying to get everyone to shut up. Like many times before, he’d wished he’d learned how to do that loud whistle thing with his thumb and middle finger. Occasions such as this were few and far between, and it would have been the perfect time to bust it out and look like a badass doing it. However, even if he’d had the ability, it would have been pointless because Academian Quincy came to his rescue in seconds.
Taking control of the situation with ease, Quincy shouted, “Everyone quiet down. Lord Walker wishes to eat.”
Pointing at one of the servants, he ordered, “You, bring him a burrito. If you don’t know what that is, look it up.”
Turning to his evaluators, he glared at them and said, “Coordinate with each other to choose one person to present the plan you’ve come up with.”
Looking over toward Cathleen and the people she’d been talking to, he said, “You all will be interviewed later. For now, just be patient until Lord Walker has time for you.”
Nero didn’t know what he’d be interviewing them about, but he was glad that Academian Quincy seemed so to have everything under control. He was so impressed with the man, that he didn’t even notice when Quincy put his arm over his shoulder and led him off to sit at one of the tables like a Lord waiting for his supplicants to present their business.
In less than a minute, he found himself sitting on a chair with a servant pouring him a fresh cup of coffee while another was arranging silverware in front of him. He could feel Quincy standing behind him a little to his right as if he were waiting to see if he was needed. It all happened so smoothly, that he wondered if it had been arranged beforehand.
So much was happening that his eyes were darting around trying to keep up with everything. But, he was brought out of his thoughts when a young woman stood in front of him on the other side of the table. Looking up at her questioningly, he was about to ask what she wanted when he heard Quincy begin speaking as if he were announcing her.
“Lord Walker, this is Scholar Idrius. She has been with me for over a hundred years, and I can assure you that she is both capable and thorough. You can trust what she says, you have my word,” he declared with a hint of pride in his voice.
Scholar Idrius bowed slightly in greeting, then set down an entire pile of paperwork on the table in front of her. “Lord Walker. We have organized the paperwork you’ll have to file to transfer your interests to House Verena. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to file them for you until your provisional status as a unique is confirmed. I am sorry to say that our request for summary judgment has been denied. The Royal Academy’s standards committee refused to rule, even provisionally, without first being provided evidence of you using your ability under controlled conditions. However, if you’d like, you can begin the paperwork now and we can immediately file it when your status is confirmed.”
Nero kept his mouth shut, as he wasn’t sure if she was finished speaking. From behind him, Academian Quincy added, “If you agree, we can head to one of the Center-Research facilities and perform the tests tomorrow morning. Or even tonight, if you’re willing to give us a few hours to prepare.”
Nero felt weird having to turn his head and listen to the man while he was standing behind him. He felt like one of those heads of state listening to their aide interpret what the person standing in front of them was saying. Looking around, he tried to locate Nick. Why wasn’t he the one acting as his advisor?
Locking eyes with his friend, he could see that Nick was standing off to the side, deliberately out of the way. It was really odd to see so many people standing there staring at him, while the guy he’d been attached to at the hip for the past month was trying to hide himself off in a corner.
Not willing to let these people he didn’t even know keep running the show, Nero raised his voice loud enough to reach Nick and asked, “Hey Nick, what do you think? Should we stop by your old stomping grounds and knock out some tests tonight? Maybe we can get Vera to come along and do all the paperwork for us if she isn’t too busy taking over Dorchester’s economy.”
The entire room seemed to turn to look at Nick, who froze under their scrutiny. But, he quickly found his courage and strode forward confidently to address Nero and the room.
“That would be fine, Lord Walker. I will coordinate with the evaluators to find out what they need, and make sure the requisite equipment is provided at once. And I’m sure Lady Verena would be happy to assist you with the paperwork, my lord,” he said, his tone sounding extremely professional.
Nero cocked his head in confusion, not understanding why Nick was acting like that. In fact, this entire situation struck him as rather ridiculous. They were in a living room in the guy's house for God’s sake. Hell, he was sitting in a chair and waiting for a burrito to be delivered. Why was everyone acting like he was holding court?
Deciding to embrace the stupidity, he waved a hand and pretended to be a pretentious tool, saying, “Very good, Lord Verena. Until then, join me for dinner. Perhaps, if you’d be so kind, you can arrange for some cheese and nachos as an appetizer before we enjoy our burritos. In fact…” He hopped to his feet and shouted with all the authority he could muster, “Nachos and melted cheese for everyone!”
Nick, understanding that Nero was not being even remotely serious, shook his head in exasperation. However, the servants didn’t seem to get the joke and ran off to go find out if there were any fried corn chips on the premises, the world’s wonderful translation magic letting them know exactly what Nero was demanding, at least conceptually.
Nero was surprised to see Scholar Idrius calmly standing there as if he hadn’t shocked her at all. He looked her in the eye and could actually see a hint of amusement and restrained laughter. He was surprised to see the same look on all the evaluator’s faces. It seemed like they were somehow familiar with his method of dealing with serious situations. Perhaps these were some of the assholes that had been spying on him? Or maybe they’d just been thoroughly briefed by someone. Either way, he’d have to step up his game and adapt. Cracking a small smirk, he sat himself back down, as if hadn’t been surprised to see her unsurprised.
With his voice full of false warmth, he said, “OK, miss. For the time being, you can just hold onto that stuff until we need it. But, thank you for tracking everything down, I’m sure Vera will appreciate it too. In the meantime, do you need anything else? Or have anything else to report?”
Scholar Idrius’ eyes unconsciously went to Academian Quincy behind him, as if checking with the man on whether or not she should proceed. Nero suddenly realized that this was most likely all theatre, part of an elaborate setup meant to control him. He felt himself smile as he pieced together that Academian Quincy was likely trying to replace Nick as his confidant and advisor. ‘Clever little bastards, aren’t they,’ he thought to himself.
Glancing over at Nick who’d somewhat reluctantly joined him at the table, he wondered, ‘I wonder what Quincy did to put Nick so off his game? Could he have threatened him? Oh, Quincy, you cheeky bitch. If I find out you came all the way here just to start some shit, I’m gonna make you regret ever stepping foot in my backyard,’ he promised himself with a grin.
Scholar Idrius who was just about to reply to Nero’s question seemed to lose her voice for a second, then gulped as if she’d swallowed something unpleasent. She wasn’t sure what it was, but something about the wicked grin on the young lord’s face made her feel decidedly uncomfortable.