《Re:Direction The Peak (Cultivation Tale)》CH. 326
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Jin asked her what this was about and she simply stated with a smirk: "Belonged to Harold"
Jin drew a cold breath. Just how much did he steal from that man?!
Before they could continue the discussion, the manager of the restaurant arrived. It was a beautiful woman in her late thirties. Voluptuous and seductive in a bright red and gold dress. She exuded a mature charm and a luxurious vibe.
She bowed at ninety as she reached Jin's table. Then, she straightened herself and smiled beautifully as she introduced herself: "It is a pleasure to see you, Master Baem, and even more of an honor to have you pick our establishment as the first you visit. I would like to extend our warmest welcome to you as the owner of this establishment"
Jin understood that this was purely the woman being polite and hoping to retain her position. Quite often, a change of owner meant a change in management and such... She was probably quite fearful of this even though she did not show it. A woman of her age was past her prime, regardless of what beauty remained. If she lost her place here, where would she go?
Jin had no plans to make things difficult her anyways.
He greeted her warmly and after they exchanged a few pleasantries, she promised on her name to bring out the tastiest of dishes to celebrate his getting out of jail.
After she left them alone, Jin glared at Ame. This time, he really needed some answers.
They chatted for long minutes as the dishes were served one by one. The next more exquisite and delicious than the previous.
In the end, it could be summed up to a few sentences. Harold and his clan had grown too much to the King's taste and they used him and Ame as a trap. Harold was deprived of his wealth and he and his clan were sent to guard the North. The old Captain's vice-captain was promoted to replace him. And Jin earned the Vice-Captain position under Ame as well as all the wealth of Harold. All that the clan could not take with them and some at least.
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It amounted to a few restaurants, a few auction houses and a few dozens of shops of all kinds.
Jin had no experience managing anything and this kind of ownership would likely be more of a burden than anything else... But that aside, the news of Harold's departure was a great one indeed. Not only him but his entire clan would no longer be a threat. The guy was likely not dumb enough to not understand who was behind his demise.
As for having been used as a pawn...It was not the first time. He could easily get over it.
...
Once they finished their meal, they left the restaurant. As they did, all the waiters bowed to them. It was quite a peculiar feeling to be a wealthy owner...
But Jin did not enjoy it that much.
It felt more like a burden.
Though he did like the fact that he did not have to pay for his sumptuous meal.
As they walked back to the palace, he told Ame of his plans to sell the shops and houses he now owned. It was too much to manage. Instead, Ame told him: "Just hire someone to manage it for you and reap the profits instead"
This was a very sound advice and he decided to follow it.
Three days later, after he had visited all his new shops, he promoted three people to become the managers of three business sectors.
The first manager he met at the restaurant he ate with Ame would be responsible for all restaurants.
Another one would take care of the auction houses and another would deal with the rest. Every month, they would bring him the profits and numerical sheets detailing the business operations.
Ame was the one to suggest that he also be given the accounting books. It would, according to her, minimize the embezzlement. She also told him to hire an accountant or maybe a few. He did.
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He had no abilities to manage his new businesses and had absolutely no knowledge on those areas. It was indeed better to leave this in the hands of professionals and only reap the profits.
That's what an owner should be like.
Having others work while he earned the cash!
...
Beyond that though, he still had duties as a royal guard. Even though he wanted to quit as soon as he had settled the businesses and learnt of the monthly profits... Ame would not let him. He did not care about her opinion though. The problem was that the royalty would not let him quit either. Apparently, there were some rules related to the job.
Once you had it, you kept it.
Till the end.
So, he had no choice. That being said, both him and Ame planned to half-ass it.
At the end of the week was the recruitment fair. After every round of recruitment by the Palace, there would be a fair in which soldiers could try their luck at a different position or job. It was basically the day when people could advance in their careers.
When the day came, Ame and Jin were nowhere to be seen even though they were the only ones belonging to the newly created 11th division. Even though hundreds of applicants waited before their booth...
While every soldier harboring some hope was waiting for them, the two were debating on how to organize their recruitment and who to pick.
It took them a while to settle.
Jin was fearing that some spies would try to join their Squad while Ame wanted the spies to join her because she believed that they would be strong and work hard.
Both were right in their own ways.
However, it was not so simple. In the end, they decided to first check out the applicants. The argument remained, they pushed it aside. But they were fine with that.
And so, the fair began.
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Tim the Engineer
Summoned against his will to a world of swords and magic, an engineering student struggles to find a way home under the shadow of a world devouring threat. ***************************** Updates: 5/13/19: Revisions to several chapters for clarity, grammar, and style. 4/29/19: A short side story and artwork has been added to the blog. 4/8/19: A Side Story has been updated on my new blog (every writer is required to have one). https://talesfromliahar.wordpress.com/ ***************************** “The summoning scenarios are broken down into groups of ten.” Emi Ito stated. “Don’t, don’t you dare say another word.” Muttered Genzo Uchida. His eyes had turned bloodshot and his hands shook with rage. “The first thirty…” “Shut up!” Genzo bellowed “How dare you help these disrespectful gaijin?” Flecks of spit and madness flew from his face, his fist raised ready to strike. But Emi did not flinch, instead she was about ready to continue when Yuma Takeuchi interrupted her. “Uchida, please,” her sweet sounding words could melt ice. “I think we will have a better chance of getting home if we all work together.” When she glanced up with her sleepy looking eyes at Genzo Uchida he deflated visibly. “Were not getting home.” Uchida said coolly. “Group summoning, large, that puts us in the 60 series. No one came to greet us after five minutes of arrival. That leaves scenarios 68 and 69. In scenario 68 there is something that binds the large group together; they are all classmates or a single family. But thanks to the gaijin” he spit out the word “I think we are scenario 69 with no way home.” Ikko Inoue’s eyes went wide, while Katsukno and Hayata started muttering to themselves. Tim took on a serious look and rubbed his scruffy chin. Emi maintained her stoic expression while trying to find something to refute. McKenzie glanced at Randall and giggled. Randall took the prompting of his teammate and followed up by approaching Genzo. “Uh, so we are in a sixty-nine?” “Yes.” Replied Genzo with the seriousness of someone who’s life was about to end. McKenzie covered her mouth and snickered. “You and me, were stuck in a sixty-nine situation?” Randall pushed with a grin. “Yes, we are all stuck in a sixty-nine scenario together!” Genzo retorted in anger. McKenzie fell on her butt laughing. “What the hell is so funny?” Demanded Genzo, whose face had turned red. “It’s a problem with the automatic translation.” Retorted Tim. Randall, who seemed unable to quit started in again “So, about this sixty-ni…” Genzo interrupted Randall with a swift punch to the face. But, because of their height difference it was a bit of an uppercut that left Randall rattled. Tim and Ikko moved to step in between the two, but Genzo showed no further hostility. Instead he just stared at his clenched fist with such intensity it grabbed the attention of the room. “I unlocked a skill.” He said bluntly. ***************************** This is not a light novel, but people who like light novels should enjoy the themes of this book. ***************************** A Map of the Region
8 164The Bad Guy Always Wins
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8 99Moonblood
Five moons rise over Evanir, each in her own cycle, and each moon is also a god, one of five sisters. Many gods create spirit attendants and companions, brought forth fully-formed. Long ago, the moons worked together to create a lineage that are, instead, humans transformed by the mingling of blood. They intended them to be long-lived and to draw their strength directly from the light of the moon who chose each individual. The five sisters had different goals in mind – one wanted it to be a blessing for scholars and artists, to give them more time and fewer physical distractions; another wanted them to have an animal form, different for each, to keep them more in tune with nature so they could serve as guardians of the wilderness. There are drawbacks to their children having human lives and personalities before being chosen: not all share the goals of their divine mothers, and some choose to put their gifts to darker uses. Those carrying the blood of one woman, fleeing the corruption in search of a quiet life, take a different path. -=-=-=-=- Moonblood isn't so much a novel as a series of adventures of varying length. They involve a core group of people, which does grow over time. They take place in a fairly low-magic world, but despite that, our core cast are directly connected to the moons and have various abilities, including limited shapeshifting to a single individual animal form. As with all my work, unless gender, orientation, or other aspects of sexuality are explicitly stated, I suggest not making assumptions. Probably most significant, I think, is a major trans character who appears about 80K words in - no spoilers, just a note for those who care about that one way or the other.
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8 146To Be Loved By A Mikaelson | Hayley Marshal
Before Klaus daggers Elijah, he had given Hayley a small track phone and told her that if he were to ever disappear to call this number. Now that he's gone she has no other choice than to use it. Who's on the other side of the phone?#3 in Hopemikaelson 1/3/21[ I DO NOT OWN ANY RIGHTS TO THE ORIGINALS, I ONLY OWN MY CHARACTERS AND MY PLOT]
8 128✔️ KILLER BUNNY || JUNGKOOK
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