Severin was relieved to learn that Magda had enough decency as not to make a scene and humiliate him, not only in front of his would-be subordinates but also his customers.

Friendly, though not friendly enough not to disrupt his current conversation, but with a firm voice, she invited Severin to visit her in her office.

“I’ll join you in a bit,” he assured. “Once we have concluded our business- shouldn’t be too long, I hope.” The last part was just as much directed towards the Guild’s inspector as it was to the woman, and so, her irritating announcement, “In this case I’ll wait right over there”, was followed by the clear of a throat and Geffrey’s assurance that indeed everything was in order; it seemed the woman who was now seated at the next table over and who was awkwardly observing the situation making sure Severin would not once again try to slip away from her- having no problem letting her own patrons wait in the meantime-, had not said anything to make things complicate for him.

He understood that the sway she held as the head of a branch -no matter how small- of the, even by classless people much respected, Adventurer’s Society, was immense.

And though he doubted her word would outweigh that of his dozens of customers, or that of Sir Singerton and even the princess herself, he knew that if she wanted to cause trouble for him, it would have been easy enough for her; especially since poor Geffrey was probably in no position to include the names of the latter two people in his report.

Severin tried to ignore Magda’s staring as much as possible and instead focused on Krill and Sabina, who were too excited to take note of anything else around them.

With a pre-prepared, and notably non-magical contract ready at hand, the details of which corresponded strictly to the terms Severin had stated back at the Guildhall in Hanvia, without a big fuss, everything was soon in order.

Besides Severin and Sabina and Krill respectively, Geffrey, as a witness and mediator of the Free Workers Guild, also signed both contracts.

His two, now official, employees were visibly excited. Almost immediately, however, they both showed their eagerness to start working and to prove their worth.

In their minds, they couldn’t afford to slack off for even a second. Not with that kind of pay. Not when someone would surely step up to replace them if they showed even just the slightest hint of an opening.

But Severin had different plans for them. Or rather, now was simply not the right time for them to start working. No matter how perfunctory, first they would need to be introduced to Bandur and Emily, and discuss the details of their assignments; jumping right in without first organizing the two new pairs- Em and Krill responsible for the main store, and Sabina and the dwarf responsible for kitchen and café, would do more harm than anything else, Severin decided.

Instead, his first order, to their great surprise, was to send them back to Hanvia.

Both had decided- for security concerns and reasons of practicality alike- to accept his offer and live with Severin on the mountain; the prospect of having two decent-sized rooms for one’s own personal use surely had a certain allure as well.

But this also meant that sooner or later they would have to move, inform their friends and family of their decision, and take care of whatever else there was to take care of under such circumstances.

So why not sooner?

To help things along, Severin handed them a gold coin while another one found its way into Geffrey’s pocket- part fee, part tip.

“Don’t worry! We’ll be back soon!”

Severin remained seated and watched the three people leave towards the fortress at the rim of the mountain.

No sooner were they out of earshot than another voice reminded him of another’s presence.

“Then if you please?”

Severin knew that resistance not only would be futile and childish, but, in light of the latest development, also ungrateful.

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Obedient but sullen, he accompanied Magda back to the Society, past impatiently waiting and adventurers, whose complaints were deftly ignored, and into a small office in the back.

Where she had a minor breakdown.

“So. Those elixirs of yours. You promised me a solution, did you not? Quite some time ago, if I might add. And although I have the distinct feeling that you have been avoiding me, I dearly hope you have something for me.

Because if things keep going like they currently are, I certainly have no idea how to explain the abnormally high success rates of those advancement tests around here. Advancement tests I’m responsible for, you understand!?” He didn’t.

“The look of that… and I can’t put it off much longer! Not with so many people around and when I have to request reinforcements much sooner than I initially thought. I can’t put establishing of a reliable connection to HQ off for much longer.

I certainly didn’t expect things on your end to develop that quickly.”

Severin suppressed his urge to blurt, ’why not just tell them how it is’ and focused on her wording which reminded him of the fact it wasn’t her superiors, but Magda herself and owed to her own foresight and willingness to bet on his success, that she was now settled here on his mountain, taking on great amounts of responsibility while trying to establish a new branch instead of being content with cushy job at the HQ.

“And I reckon things will only get worse now with your deal with the Malconeans. Would have appreciated some warning, by the way. Imagine my surprise when one day I wake up and am the last to find a whole delegation of these people–including the princess herself, mind you!- sitting right at the doorstep. Out of nowhere. And all the reports I’ll…!” During the course of her complaining monolog, Magda’s voice had become more and more high-pitched, when all of a sudden she caught herself.

And slumped back into her chair.

Severin still didn’t quite understand why the issue at hand was such a big deal. What he did understand, however, if belatedly, was that his decisions no longer concerned only himself and his people, but also those around him. The last days and weeks, this woman in front of him was just as stressed as he, Bandur, and Emily had been.

Now, did that mean he would let those things influence his decisions in the future? Probably not. But it was certainly worth taking note of.

And it was enough for Severin to feel bad for her-though not the least bit guilty.

But that didn’t mean he had a solution for her.

Even if he removed the advertisement regarding his products’ ability to remain effective even downstairs inside the Society’s evaluation facilities, it most certainly would not change a thing.

But what else could he do besides making ill-informed suggestions and simply lending the woman an ear?

Nothing.

But sometimes that is all it needs. And so, after one of Severin’s, even in his own opinion, more farfetched sounding suggestions, Magda’s eyes started to sparkle.

Her smile started to relax.

..

Severin found himself dragged out of the room and stood inside the main hall

where Magda unceremoniously announced:

“Listen up! From now on, the rules for the advancement test at this location will undergo some drastic changes.

It won’t be mandatory, but I strongly encourage every one of you to consume one of this man’s elixirs. You all know the one I’m talking about. Don’t pretend otherwise. And maybe have a good, hearty meal beforehand as well.” The disdain in her voice could hardly be missed, eliciting some embarrassed chuckles throughout the room. All of which fell silent after her next sentence.

“Because the baseline score will be raised accordingly.” Her smile was now as bright as ever. Magda paused for effect and let her audience process the information.

“And to any genius amongst you guys who thinks he might instead try his luck at another branch. Be warned that anyone caught doing so while under the influence of mentioned elixirs, and food buffs, and whatnot, will be expelled. Their membership revoked. For good.”

Severin didn’t know whether this was a simple bluff stemming from desperation. If it was even feasible. Or how her superiors would react to this decision. Was it even hers to make in the first place?

He truly didn’t know. But neither did he care enough to find out.

His bottom-line would remain mostly unaffected by this either way and so, the most important thing was that Magda had gotten off his back.

Hopefully, for good.