(Jacob, 17)

"Hello, Benjamin," I greet my distant cousin as he steps around the corner, and the younger boy jumps, startled. "How are you?"

"I am well," he answers. "How are you?"

"I am well, as well," I tell him. "Did you speak with Papa yet today?"

"No," he answers.

"He arranged an adviser for you," I inform him. "To assist you in running the duchy until you possess the ability to manage it on your own. Your cousin Lydia, to be more specific. We already checked her loyalties and her intentions."

Lydia is twenty-three, and the second child of his uncle, another duke. Papa chose her because she seems level-headed, and after an interrogation, showed only concern for Benjamin. We believe she will assist Benjamin in properly running the duchy without any ulterior motives behind it.

"Lydia?" Benjamin asks.

"Yes," I respond. "I just spoke with her a few minutes ago. If you wish to see her now, you may, we sent her to the quarters you are staying at right now."

"Okay," he blushes. "Thank you, Jacob."

Benjamin hurries away, leaving me wondering about the blush. Rather than dwelling on it, however, I resume my trip back to my own quarters, where I find Tasha waiting with her escorts. Today, she wears a beautiful, yellow summer dress and matching golden earrings set with yellow topazes.

"To what do I owe the honor of the presence of someone as gorgeous as yourself in my wing?" I ask Tasha.

"Hello, Jacob," she approaches and takes my hands in hers as she kisses me. "I wished to see how you feel. You only returned two days ago."

"Worry none, Tasha," I smile. "A Magus does not break so easily. Eric could have tried for months without affecting me."

"I heard you cleared your schedule for today," she tells me. "That you refused to tell anyone what your plans were, even Jason and Eden. You plan on isolating yourself to quietly deal with some of the trauma, yes?"

"Lina worries too much," I sigh, then kiss Tasha on the cheek. "I will not be alone where I go, even if I do leave Wyatt and Evan here. While Eden might be a close friend, I have not seen him today, and only I decided to do this today. As for Jason, I hold no intention of informing him of anything to do with this. I promise, though, that I feel fine, Tasha. Sometimes, I have personal things I wish to attend to and do not wish to let others know about. This has nothing to do with the kidnapping and torture."

The worried look remains on her face.

"Even the First Prince has secrets," I say. "This began before the kidnapping, I promise. I will return late tonight, and tomorrow evening, I will take you to the amphitheater for a performance. I already purchased the tickets for it. Do not worry about me, Tasha."

Tasha hugs me, and I wrap my arms around her as she rests her head on my shoulder.

"I know you worry," I murmur. "But I do promise that what happened affects me none. My plans for today deal with something else, and one day, maybe several years from now, you will find out about it. Okay?"

"You do know that Griffin Alpha will tell Jason, yes?" She asks softly.

"I left him behind last time," I tell her. "And I intend on leaving him behind again this time. Jason will check with Griffin Alpha first, and after Griffin Alpha informs him that I wished for alone time, he will respect my wishes and not look for me."

"What if something happens while you are gone?" She asks. "What if someone else attacks you? What if-"

"Tasha," I squeeze her a little, holding her tight. "I promise, no one knows about my plans, nor where I will be. Only one person there knows my real identity, and he would never hurt me."

Tasha holds me tightly, and I know she fights back tears. My kidnapping affected her heavily, and I would normally not do this today to better reassure those around me of my mental health, except that I do not want to put off my return too much longer.

"Stay safe," Tasha whispers, then releases me, and when I look at her, I see the restrained tears in her eyes.

"I will," I promise, then look at Griffin Alpha, who is in the process of giving me an annoyed look. "I meant it, Griffin Alpha. Stay here and do not try to follow me. I will be safe where I am, no one in the area comes close to having enough magical power to even be worth thinking of as anything more than an annoyance."

I turn back to Tasha and give her another kiss, then I enter my bedroom to change into simpler clothes, Griffin Alpha jumping up on my bed and watching me. Once dressed, I open up a gate and step through it, into the area before the church Grandpapa Alexander lives in.

Without a moment of hesitation, I close the gate and enter the church. Grandpa Alexander and Reid do not show up in my scanning spell, so they most likely went into town for supplies. No matter, I will surprise them when they return.

I walk into the vestry and change out of these clothes and into the white pants, then slip on and lace up the white boots before pulling the legs of the pants over the tops of the boots. Next, I pull on the white robe and tie the white cincture around my waist. Finally, I pull on stained-glass twelve-pointed star hanging from the white leather cord, the weight of the amulet heavy around my neck.

Dressed in acolyte's robes once more, I look to see what duties are required for today. The candles in the sanctuary looked fine, so I will not replace those. No service takes place tomorrow, so the pre-service prep does not need performing.

The inside of the sanctuary could use a cleaning, though. I feel certain that Grandpapa finds his hands full raising a four-year-old boy, even if he once had a four-year-old daughter to care for. That was many years ago, and he had a wife back then, who helped him raise Mama.

To care for a little boy and care for a church, Grandpapa likely finds himself stretched. I enter the sanctuary and begin sweeping, using force magic rather than a broom. This will clean it faster and more efficiently, and few religions oppose using magic to clean the churches.

After I finish sweeping out the immense amount of dirt and dust that has collected, I set to work wiping down the pews and polishing them, a touch of water and holy magic to help me.

About thirty minutes into me wiping down the pews, a pair of people enter the church, a man and a woman maybe two or three years older than me at the most. They look Varilan, with blond hair and blue eyes, but something about them seems foreign to me. They look related as well, so brother and sister?

The woman wears a green and silver dress, with no jewelry, her hair left long, reaching down almost to her waist, and the man wears black boots, green pants, and a green tunic with silver patterning, his hair cut short in the Varilan fashion.

"Hello," I dip my head to them. "Priest Alexander is not available at the moment, and I am uncertain as to when he shall return."

"That is fine," the woman smiles at me. "We did not come for healing or guidance."

"If you came to learn about the church," I tell her. "I must admit, I will prove insufficient for that. Though I heard many of the stories and sermons when I was little, this is only the second time in four years that I visited it. I live in Varilsy and am only here for the day."

"We heard the priest here," the man says. "Has a grandson. We were simply curious about him."

"His grandson went with him when he left," I tell them. "So you will, unfortunately, not be able to see him at the moment. If you wish to wait for them, you may."

"No, that is fine," the woman says. "We do not have much time here, and with uncertain waiting time, it is best if we are off."

"Goodbye," the man tells me.

The two of them leave, leaving me baffled. It takes quite a long time to walk here, yet they only stayed for maybe a minute? Shaking my head, I return to wiping down the pews, only to stop a few minutes later, when someone exclaims from the doorway.

"Jake!"

I look over to find Grandpapa standing in the doorway, holding Reid on his right hip, a look of surprise on his face. Reid looks happy to see me, too.

"Hello, Grandpapa," I wave to him. "I thought I would visit today."

"Welcome," Grandpapa approaches. "This is a pleasant surprise. You are cleaning?"

"It looks like a long time has passed since the pews were last polished," I tell him. "Since before my previous visit, at least."

"Indeed, it has been," he says. "Take a break, let us have some tea."

"Did you talk with them long?"

"Talk with who?" Grandpapa asks as Reid waves at me.

"The man and the woman," I wave back to Reid. "They just left a few minutes before you arrived, you should have come across them. They said they heard you had a grandson and wanted to meet him, but couldn't stay very long."

"No," he says. "We didn't come across anyone, Jake."

"Really?" I ask, and he nods. "Strange. They really did only just leave a few minutes ago."

"Hi, Jake," Reid says.

"Hi, Reid," I greet him. "I am almost done with the pews, Grandpapa. Give me another five minutes to finish, and I will join you and Reid back there."

"We will see you in a few minutes, then," Grandpapa says.

He walks to the back, and I finish cleaning the pews, then join them in the kitchen. Reid sits on a stool as Grandpapa pours tea, a basket of pastries sitting on the center of the table. Reid stares at the basket, mouth watering. In his arms, he clutches a stuffed moose.

"That looks like a nice moose," I tell Reid. "Did Grandpapa give it to you?"

"Grandpapa said me have it," Reid says, and I look at Grandpapa.

"It looks high-quality," I tell him. "Not something I would expect you to be able to buy for him. Not in this area, anyway. The quality reminds me of the stuffies a friend of mine makes, with top-quality materials. Not the sort of materials found in this area."

"A friend gave it to me months ago," Grandpapa tells me, putting a cup of tea in front of me, then another in front of Reid before sitting down, a cup of tea in front of him. The amber tea possesses a more purple tint than I am used to. "Reid seems to like it, so I let him have it."

"A friend?" I ask as I examine the tea.

"Yes," Grandpapa says. "He travels all over, and he tries to visit once every weekend now. He gave me this tea."

A friend who travels all over. Grandpapa knows Sage Harold, is he talking about him? If so, that would explain the high-quality stuffie. He probably bought it from Jason's overstock of them, though I feel uncertain as to why he would gift it to Grandpapa. Maybe to show off Jason's work? With the power of a gate spell at his hands, he possesses the ability to visit once a week as well, regardless of where he went.

"This tea," I say. "Did he gift it to you?"

"Yes," Grandpapa smiles. "A blueberry vanilla tea. He brings me a new tea or two every time he visits."

"He be nice," Reid tells me.

"You met him?" I ask.

"Yes," Reid nods. "He brings cookies!"

"Your friend brings you cookies?" I ask Grandpapa.

"He brings Reid cookies," Grandpapa tells me. "Reid hasn't actually met him, my friend only ever stops by after Reid goes to sleep. But after you brought Reid here, he's left a plate of cookies each visit as well."

"Children do love sweets," I say.

"Yes, they do," Grandpapa pulls a pastry out of the basket and hands it to Reid, who happily begins scarfing it down. "Feel free to have one, Jake."

"Thank you," I take a pastry and bite into it, tasting strawberries.

"It is good to see you again," Grandpapa says. "How have you been?"

"I am well," I answer. "Much occurred since my last visit here, else I would have come sooner. I intended on visiting this past weekend, only a plot to mess with the ruling line occurred, delaying me."

"Were you hurt?" He asks, concern in his voice.

"Yes," I answer. "Though my friend Jason put an end to it. He is the son of the Sages, and quite possibly the most powerful person alive."

"I've heard of Jason," Grandpapa tells me. "Adopted by the Sages, and the grandson of the current leader of the Dragon Clans. A young man so powerful, he killed two different dragons on two separate occasions."

"You heard about that, as isolated as this area is?" I ask.

"I did," he smiles. "Your friend is quite the famous young man."

Yes, he is. Then again, if Sage Harold visits Grandpapa, then I feel certain he would inform my grandpapa about the exploits of his son. More than likely, he uses Grandpapa to vent about Jason, just like how Papa used the Sages to vent about me or the occurrences in the kingdom.

"Starting on the seventeenth," I tell him. "And lasting through the twenty-third, I will be participating in a training camp Jason hosts. It is unlikely I will be able to visit during then, as I do not wish for anyone to know about my trips to you just yet. If I received permission to leave, Jason would surely learn of it, and I cannot trust him not to mention it to Papa, mostly because of Reid."

"I understand," Grandpapa says. "You wish to protect Reid. Do not worry, Jake, I have told none about who you are, and none who visit here would tell about Reid. While the townsfolk know he is my grandson, it's doubtful word would reach your papa."

"What about your friend?" I ask.

"My friend can keep a secret," he smiles. "Do not worry about him."

Is it Sage Harold, then? Now that I think about it, I doubt the Sage would refrain from telling Papa about Reid, considering who my brother's mama was.

"How are things in the capital?" Grandpapa asks, handing Reid another pastry.

"The same as always," I answer, taking a sip of the tea.

Grandpapa and I discuss mundane things, telling each other about our lives, about events which occurred in them. Reid mostly just sits there, holding the moose stuffie. Once Grandpapa and I stop, perhaps I will read him a story, entertain him a little? I wish to bond with my little brother just as much as I wish to bond with my grandpapa.

(Alex 17)

"No!" I exclaim. "Not there! Ya ain't listening! Over there!"

"Sorry!" The worker exclaims, then hurries off to where I'm pointing.

Sheesh. Ain't these people able to listen to instructions? I was pretty explicit when I told them where to put those things.

"Alex," Connor approaches me. "What's in these crates?"

"Supplies," I answer. "Sorry for not running the budget stuff by ya, Connor, but I wanted to get started on this, too. Jason gave me some enchantment designs for remote-controlled toys."

"Remote-controlled?" He asks. "What does that mean?"

"Here," I open up my spatial storage and pull out a toy lion and its remote. "I made this one this morning. Ya press this spot here to turn it on."

I press my thumb into the ring on the bottom of the wooden toy, then set it on the ground.

"Then ya use this to move it around," I hold the controller in both hands.

It's basically just a piece of wood with a mana battery inside of it and some enchantments imbued into it to allow the user to control it. I have a better design already created, but this one was made just for me to prototype the toy.

"Ya use these here," I show him the movement spots. "To move it around, like this."

I run my fingers along them, moving the toy lion around. Its movements are somewhat choppy at the moment, but I intend on improving the design, which is why I bought up a bunch of stuff to make more of them with.

"And ya use these to make it roar, mewl, and other things lions do. This one here even makes the tail move."

I show Connor the different actions available, including the options to make it leap, crouch, and crawl. He seems somewhat impressed with it, though a doubtful look is on his face.

"As it is," he says. "I don't think it's going to get much attention. The movements aren't the best, so we'd need to work on fixing that, first. How much did you spend on supplies for it?"

"Not much," I tell him. "I plan on working on improving the enchantments and design over the next few days, though. I bought what I think should be enough for that, and I'll buy anything else that comes up when it comes up. Then, I'll draft up the list of supplies needed for it and let ya do the rest."

"So it's not complete?" He looks a little relieved, though still a little annoyed.

"Yeah," I answer. "It ain't complete yet, I only had this morning to work on it. Even using magic to carve it and stuff, it still takes a bit of time. I hope to have the final version ready within a week. Once we've got that, we can make a few other models and sell them with the balls and game sets."

"You should have talked to me about this first," he says. "What's the cost for the patent we'll need to use?"

"Twenty varru per use," I answer. "I think the toy ain't going to cost more than two hundred varru or so for someone to buy, and it uses two mana batteries, one in the toy, one in the remote. We could probably do lions, tigers, bears, wolves, and foxes to start, then branch out to other things once they start selling."

"Our budget is still very tight," Connor says. "We can't just go and start doing new things, Alex. Maybe a few months from now, but not right now. As it is, Levirar Toys is barely making enough money to keep producing our goods, and we're having to use income from Levirar Equipment to keep it running. We don't really even have the space or employees to start making new toys, either."

"We can pull some people from the district," I tell him. "It's a risk-reward gamble."

"I know what you're doing," Connor says. "And if it fails, we're bankrupt. For sure. And we definitely can't afford to hire more people right now, Alex. There's no way we can start a new project until our balls and game sets are selling better. There's barely any profit at all from both companies after all expenses are paid, and the tax money from the people in the district has to be used for the district, what's not paid to the crown in taxes."

"I know," I say. "Which is why I have a plan. For once, Connor, I've thought of something for this that ya ain't."

"What?" He groans, leaning against a table.

"Once I get this one made," I tell him. "And improved up, we start the line of the remote-controlled toys-"

"That's exactly what you just said," he tells me. "And I'm nixing it. No. Alex, we can't afford this."

"I ain't done, Connor," I tell him. "Ain't it bad etiquette for a noble to interrupt someone?"

"Alex," he says. "I can't think of a single way you can do this without affecting our income. I'm betting you had to use your money from that job you did with the Royal Slayers last week just to pay for some of the stuff you bought."

"Yeah," I admit. "But let me finish, Connor. Seriously. I ain't done. See, once I have it ready, we start the line of them, but only one for each model. We connect with some of the nobles we know, host a small party of our acquaintances and tell 'em to bring their kids, and perform a demonstration of the toys. Some of the kids would want them."

"Yeah," Connor says. "But we'd only have one of each, we wouldn't be able to-wait. That's your intention. The one of each isn't for sale, it's to show off, like with what Jason does at his reveals."

I can see the gears turning in his head as he puts everything together.

"They're not going to be buying what's there," he says. "They're going to want to, and we'll tell them that due to monetary restraints within the company, we can only make them if someone wants to buy them.

"Then," he says. "We'll receive orders for them, and we'll give them an estimated time on how long it will take to make it for them. Then we'll have it made for them and sell it to them then, already guaranteed a sale. Some people would probably change their mind when they get it, but chances are, we'd be able to sell it soon after.

"Even if," he continues. "Only one person buys it initially, if their kid is playing with it while with another person's kid, then that person might be asked by their kid for one, which could net us a sale as well."

"Yeah," I say. "It would be cheaper for us at first, and once we're making more money, we can start making them in batches and selling them in stores."

"But to start, we never have more than one or two extra from rejected orders," he says. "Keeping the costs down."

Connor starts tapping his right thigh, something I've learned he does when he starts thinking more deeply about something. He's thinking of a way to increase income from this as well, despite us limiting how many are made at a time.

"We could take it a step further," he says. "It wouldn't hurt them too much to make some slight customizations to them, would it?"

"Not as long as the basic form is the same," I answer. "As long as the parts that are a part of its movement or other commands are unaffected, we could theoretically change them up."

"Okay," he says. "The plan is to make them out of wood, right?"

"Yes," I answer. "There's some metal in it, but it's almost entirely wood where it's not the mana battery, sound control, movement control, or paint."

"Okay," Connor points at it. "How does the sound control work? How do you have it make the sounds?"

"Ah, right, that's another thing we'll have to pay for the patent use for," I say. "That one's going to be about forty varru, though we could leave it out to decrease costs. It uses a similar magitech to the comm plates, but instead, it stores sound and can emit it out with the right command."

"So it's a one-and-done use?" He frowns. "We should leave it out."

"The sound doesn't get 'used up'," I tell the lion to roar again. "Basically, the magitech records the soundwaves used to create the sound, then recreates them using a bit of wind magic. The information is still stored."

I tell it to roar again.

"I asked Jason about it after he gave me the patent for the remote control magitech," I tell Connor. "Since I figured the dolt had come up with it a long while ago and forgot to mention it. He said that he tried to make it, but in the end, Sage Jared had to help him."

Which doesn't surprise me, with how much his papas and mamas help him create the magictech.

"Really?" Connor asks.

"Yeah," I answer.

"That's pretty nice, then," he says. "Are we able to record new sounds? Or are we limited to the ones you already have?"

"We can record new sounds," I tell him, and he taps his thigh a few times, that look of thought on his face. "What?"

"How many sounds can it record?" He asks. "Four or five?"

"Up to seven," I answer. "Jason said that after he and Sage Jared made it, they both pretty much forgot about it and so didn't work on improving it."

That doesn't surprise me, either, with how often they quickly move on to the next project after coming up with something. That was probably just a side project, too.

"Okay," Connor says. "We can use that. We can offer to have a custom message or two made by the parents, for an increased price. It won't cost us more than the visit to them or their visit to us, but since it's not standard, we still have a little extra work. We can do an extra twenty or twenty-five varru per message, the limit being however many slots are leftover after the animal's sounds."

In other words, we can increase the price for something that costs us pretty much nothing. It would help to increase profits, and as long as we say it's simply for it being customized, and not because of any extra costs associated with it, then no one would complain too much.

It might take us a few months to actually start producing the remote-controlled toys regularly, and probably ain't going to be until next year for us to start selling them in stores, but without the customization option.

"Okay, we can make this work," Connor says, then gives me a stern glare. "Next time, Alex, make sure to talk to me first. You might have had a good idea this time, but what if there's something you hadn't thought about?"

"I'm sure there's plenty we ain't thought about with this," I tell him, and he intensifies his glare. "Yeah, yeah, Connor, I'll talk to ya next time. Anyway, I want to make sure my supplies are here, then I need to go check on the crew. Jeddy called me all excited about something while I was on my way here. I'll get to work on improving this after."

"Okay," he says. "By the way, I'm authorizing the demolition of a few buildings in the district, they'll start being torn down in the next few days. I need you to put in a request to build a factory there for Levirar Toys Company."

"Our funds?" I ask.

"As long as everything goes well," he tells me. "We'll be able to afford it. No one pays for the entire thing from the start, after all. It's part of why I was annoyed you decided to start a new production."

"So ya are tearing down buildings for me?" I ask. "Ain't that gonna get ya in trouble?"

"No," he answers. "The buildings are in severe need of disrepair. I'm authorizing the removal of about twenty buildings total for this summer. I've put the paperwork in the office letting you know which lots will be available that are big enough for this."

"And the residents?"

"Some of the buildings were abandoned," he says. "Most, actually. They weren't livable. As for the ones which still have residents, I'm offering a small package for them to move elsewhere in the district. I'm in discussion with a construction company for building new homes on some of the other lots, but I'll need to know where Levirar Toys Company's new factory will be before I can authorize it."

"How are the homes being paid for?" I ask.

"District tax money," he answers. "The district will own the homes, and someone could then buy it. Though the buyers might not be from the district, since most here can't afford it."

"And that would bring new money into the district," I say.

"Exactly," he says. "And there might be a few people here who can afford it as well. As long as we can get some new homes built, we can start improving the district. I also plan on offering a few people who run a business to sell their shop to the district and use the funds to build a new one."

Since most people who own a store live above it, that would mean they receive a new home as well. He's putting the money taken by extorting them back into the district, probably with a gamble with how much he plans on spending for it.

"Okay," I say. "Good luck."

"Thanks," he says. "Go find out what your crew wants, Alex. I'll see you later."

"See ya," I open a gate to the crew's apartment, where only Jeddy seems to be.

"Finally!" Jeddy exclaims. "Come on, Alex! This way!"

He opens a gate, then pushes me through it before I can really ask him what's going on. When I come out, I'm in another one of the districts that are poor, though not one currently under the revitalization project. It might be soon, though, with how bad its state is. I know King Zachary wants evidence that the project works before adding more to it, so it might not be that soon, actually.

We're in front of a large building that probably was once a restaurant, but looks rather run-down, now. My scanning spell shows the rest of the crew is inside, but before I can ask Jeddy why we're here, I spot the a-frame sign that looks quite new standing on the street.

A blue-green leviathan decorates its, with blue lettering on the black chalkboard.

Leviathan Brews, Coming Soon!

"Leviathan Brews?" I ask.

"Yep!" Jeddy leads me inside. "Guys! He's here!"

The rest of the crew looks like they're busy pulling apart the insides of the restaurant.

"What's going on?" I ask. "Why are you attacking this place?"

"We bought it this morning, Boss," Barry grins at me. "We've been saving up money for months to buy it, the six of us."

"Not just to buy it," Sarah tells me. "But to fix it up, too. We bought the lot behind it as well, and are going to build up a wall around the property, and add on another building or two behind it after we tear down the old one."

"For Leviathan Brews?" I ask.

"Yep!" Jeddy grins. "We're gonna run our own tavern!"

"Sort of," Barry tells me as I turn my gaze to him and Sarah in shock. "We're going to start making our own ales. We'll make 'em in the back and sell 'em up here. We'll have some foods for people to enjoy, but mostly, the front area will be for people to browse our selections and do some tastings."

"We've already asked Adam," Sarah tells me. "And he's agreed to help run the bar with Mikey. He'll produce most of the foods."

"Since most of us are or will be students," Colin says. "The shop won't be open except when we're available. Jeddy might run it during training from time to time, but otherwise, it'll be us."

"I'll also help with brewing the alcohol," Jeddy says. "We've all done some studying, and Barry did some research into the best deals for us to buy from."

I don't know whether to laugh or groan. We're probably the only crew to ever end up with its own tavern. Then again, we ain't really a street crew anymore. I really should have expected the crew to decide to start brewing their own alcohol, probably just so they could save on costs with how much we drink. Then they decided, why not also make money off of brewing it, and decided to run a tavern.

How they managed to keep me from even suspecting this, I'll probably never know. But it's definitely something they'd do.

"The modern waterways ain't connected to this district, right?" I ask. "So even if ya try to modernize it-"

"We did our research, Boss," Sarah says. "We can add in our own plumbing system to make up for that. Trust me, we've got this."

"I trust ya," I grin. "How long before ya think it'll open?"

"Sometime after university starts," Sarah answers. "First, we'll need to fix this place up and get the other things built. Then, we'll have to make the ale. The first batches will probably take us about a month, and we ain't gonna start on that until after the training camp, since we don't think we'll manage to have this finished until right before."

"Alright," I say. "Well, once it's time to open, let's make sure it's one heck of an opening, yeah? I might be busy with my own business, but I'll try to help ya all get this set up, too."