Nero Walker, Book 2 Ch.24 (56) (Patreon)

Arch-mage Mathers was in his office attempting to address the sea of paperwork in front of him.  It had only been a few days since Jennings went on his adventure, and Mathers was already annoyed.  With Jennings gone, everyone was reporting to him.  Considering he was a great deal more pleasant than Jennings, everyone seemed to be taking advantage of the situation.

Walking in without warning, one of his aides held up a stack of papers and said, “Sir, none of these are filled out,”

The interruption caused Mathers’ concentration to break.  Sighing, he looked up at what the aide was pointing at, and Mathers fought to keep his temper in check.  “That’s because that’s from the inbox.  When I asked you to upload and send out the papers on my desk, I assumed I didn’t have to specify which pile to take,” he said through gritted teeth.

Not even remotely intimidated, the aide nodded and placed the pile he was holding on Mathers’ desk, not even close to the inbox.  Walking over to the other side of the desk, he collected the stack of papers from the outbox and held them up with a smile.

“I’ll get these sent out right away,” he said and started to walk away.

Mathers leaned over to his desk to move the papers his aide just dropped off into the inbox clearly marked on his desk.  Trying not to shout, he addressed his aides back, “Remember to read the top of each page to make sure they’re sent to the right department and/or person.”

Not hearing a response, he started to stand up.

“Of course!  I know how to send mail, I’m not an idiot,” the aide shouted from his desk outside Mathers’ office.

Sitting back down, Mathers’ rubbed his temples and tried to convince himself that killing aides was not a solution to his problems.

Receiving a long range connection request, he isolated the point of origin and viewed who was trying to reach him.  Seeing Jennings waving at him, Mathers reached out and helped open the scy-connection.  A floating portal started form above his desk, and the image of Jennings started to appear.

The moment the connection was picked up by Jennings, Mathers said, “When are you coming back?”

Jennings amusement was obvious as he replied, “I might be out here a while.  It looks like Dorchester is ascending back to a level 2 city a little earlier than expected.  It seems the recent kerfuffle they had was enough to put it over the edge.  I’m calling because we need to push up our plans for the Center-point academy we were going to build.  We should also send someone out here to actually BE the court mage.  You and I both know I’m not going to do it.”

Mathers cork finally popped.  “Are you kidding me?!?” he shouted over the scry.  The connection shook with his rage, and Mathers watched Jennings’ eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

“There is too much that needs doing here for one man alone.  You’ve been gone 2 days and I’m a week behind.  How the hell do you expect me to get any of this done with you traipsing around with Nero.  Get your ass back here and do your job. You … You… Jackass!” he said, trying to find a sufficiently scathing insult.

Jennings just chuckled.  “The council is sending everything to you aren’t they,” he asked.

Mathers paused for a full 5 seconds, then asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve felt most of them watching me since I got here.  I was wondering how they found the time, but I guess now I know.  You don’t really think I was doing all that paperwork did you?  Just try to imagine what I’d put up with, then cut it in half.  That’s about all I do.  The council was created for this purpose.  In fact, as my right hand, you already do most of my paperwork,” Jennings said as if it were obvious.

Mathers knuckles turned white as he squeezed his desk in fury.  “Those sons of bitches.  Time-sucking vampires.  Opportunists!  I’m going to drag them one at time into the arena and hang them upside down.  I’ll spank them like the unruly children they are in front of the entire damned kingdom!” he shouted.

Jennings was smiling and nodding along to Mathers’ rant.  “That’s great.  In another hundred years, you’ll be burning your enemies with your words alone.  Keep practicing.  In the meantime, just start yelling and threatening them.  Otherwise they’ll just walk all over you.  In fact, you’re in charge.  Start giving some orders!” he said with enthusiasm.

“Yes!” said Mathers as he hopped up to his feet and slammed his fist into his palm.

Jennings said, “First order of business is to have someone create a highlight real of the recordings they’ve been watching.  Call it ‘Project Nero’.  That way everyone won’t complain about being forced to start working again.  Then teleport someone out here to run the local mage tower.  Also assign someone to find out what House Cranston is up to.  We don’t want any more surprises.  You’re going to have to deal with the Tower of Fate yourself though.  Make sure they don’t do anything stupid.  Who knows what they’re thinking about doing.  Watch yourself with them, they’re all morons.”

Mathers paced back and forth, nodding along.  “Right,” he said as mentally took notes.  “Anything else?”

Jennings shrugged, and replied, “Not off the top of my head.  You’ll figure it out.  You’ve been with me for a couple hundred years.  Just do what you think I’d do.  It only annoyed you, because I was doing it to you.  Now you’ll be doing it to others.  You’ll love it.”

Mathers couldn’t find fault in anything Jennings was saying.

“Now I have to go.  I just wanted to check in and update you on the happenings.  They’re going to force Nero to go join an elite monster hunting squad, and there are so many stupid plots afoot that I don’t want to miss it when they tell him.  I can’t wait,” Jennings said and closed the connection without waiting for a reply.

Mathers just shook his head in annoyance.  Jennings would never change, but his antics didn’t seem to bother Mathers as much as they usually did.  Perhaps it was a result of Mathers acting as the director of the council.  He now understood why Jennings was the way he was.  Putting up with idiocy on a daily basis was harder than he expected.

-----

After their meeting at the keep, Vera decided to head back to the Gate 7 Center with Nero.  Sitting opposite each other in a carriage, they were discussing the next few days.  As much as Nero enjoyed ignoring the particulars, Vera enjoyed discussing them in excruciating detail.

“However you want to do it is fine,” Nero said while watching the citizens go about their day through his window.

“Well, I understand you don’t want to worry about it, but they owe House Walker millions, and I’m going to make sure we get it,” she said with some anger.

Nero sighed, and said, “Look, why don’t you just do the same thing you did with the shipping company.  Doesn’t the city own the arena?  Why don’t you just negotiate a buy-in.  In the long term it will be more money, and isn’t that easier than moving a ton of money around.  Or whatever it was you were just trying and failing to explain?”

Vera’s eyes lit up.  “Yes, that would work.  I checked, and you can’t own an arena, but you could be an investor.  You’d be the only house with a stake in the arena.  Lord Cosgrave will consider it a win.  She’ll tie you more firmly to Dorchester, and make it seem like a gesture of goodwill.  They’ll know what you’re doing, but it solves the issue nicely.  It’ll be years before you make back what they owe you, but you’ll come out ahead in the end.  That’s good thinking,” she said.

Nero nodded along as if he was listening.  “Hey, you mentioned something about wanting me to keep the spoils from my kills.  What was that about?” he turned to her and asked.

“I said that for the essence crystals mostly.  They’re the backbone of the economy.  I know you read about them.  Normally, city-teams turn in their spoils and only receive a share.  No reason to let them benefit from your work,” she said.

Nero gave her a grin and said, “That’s what I thought you were hinting at.  Isn’t the market for essence crystals going to explode?  From the generals presentation it seems like the city’s economy will have to shift to account an influx of hunters and essence crystals.  We should open up some businesses to take advantage of that.  We already have a shipping company, can we use that somehow?”

Vera leaned forward and said, “That’s a good point.  Typically, nobles would be tasked with addressing the concern, but there is no law that says we could get a head start.  What did you have in mind?”

Nero gave her a confused look, and replied, “That was my whole idea.  I don’t know anything about the economy, I was just pointing out that we should do something.  You’re the one who would know how to take advantage of the situation.  Why do you think I brought it up?”

Vera leaned back and shook her head ruefully, “Fine.  I’ll set up some trading houses and start stock piling some weapons and armor for trade.  The prices for crystals are regulated, but there is plenty of profit to be made.  We can open up some stores near gate 15.  I’ll call it ‘Precision Supplies’.”

Nero shook his head and quickly replied, “Nah, call it ‘Precision Trading House’.  That way people can say their hitting the trading house, and word of mouth will spread that when you have essence crystals, that’s where you go.  Trade is where it’s at.  Also, make sure it’s a separate company.  We’ll be 50/50 partners.  We keep it separate so we can manipulate the prices you charge us for shipping.  It’ll help with the tax breaks.”

Vera eyes widened in shock.  “Nicholas said that you had memories of a past life, were you involved in finance?”

Nero didn’t want to get into his past, so he just replied, “Something like that.”

After getting a transport to gate 7, they were back in another cab heading toward the center.

“Isn’t there a faster way to move around the city?  A 40 minute commute is annoying,” Nero grumbled as he looked out the window.  He noticed that the people walking around Gate 7 were much more ‘common’ looking.  The fancy robes were gone, and everyone looked more relaxed.

Vera answered Nero’s question, “Yes, most noble estates have private astra-platforms.  They are small teleport junctions that can take you directly to a hub.  You can’t eliminate the commute, but you can cut it down drastically.”

“Speaking of estates,” said Nero.  “Am I even going to see my place before I move to the army compound for training?”

“Probably not.  I’ll handle it.  Don’t worry about it.  You should spend the rest of the night in the dorms.  Tomorrow too, if you can.  Nicholas and I have a lot to do, and every time you leave your dorm room, you cause chaos,” she said with a grimace.

Chuckling, he said, “No problem.  I have a lot of reading to do.  I can use the training rooms they have there, right?”

Vera nodded in response.

Nero continued, “Have you pinged Nick yet?  How does he feel about you signing him up for an adventure?  Also, you’re not going to send Ms. Averett with me are you?”

Vera looked surprised.  “I haven’t had a chance to speak with Nicholas.  But, why would you think Ms. Averett would be joining you?” she asked.

Shrugging, Nero replied, “She’s the only person I know that could both, fill the position of bodyguard, and that you had a connection to.”

Vera looked like she was considering something.  “I do have an entire guard force that works for ‘Precision Shipping’.  I was going to assign one of trainers to you.  But Cathleen is a really good idea.  I know she’s been difficult to deal with the past few years.  She loves helping nurture young talent, but she has the heart of a warrior.  She came to Dorchester when two of her brothers were stationed here.  Since they were deployed to the front, she’s been bouncing off the walls.”

Nero said quickly, “I wasn’t trying to give you ideas.  I was trying to say that she was a BAD idea.  Training with that woman around would be a nightmare.”

Smiling, Vera said, “Yes.  She is very good at what she does.  She’ll make sure you get the best out of the experience.  That was a very good idea.  I’ll talk to her, and see if she’s interested.”

Nero paled and said, “So you’re doing that selective hearing thing that you do when Nick is around.  Fine, I trust your judgment.  But I want you to keep in mind that I’m not Nick.  Retaliation is a possibility with me.  So don’t consider me a doormat.”

Chuckling, Vera replied, “Doormat.  That was a rather amusing image.  Thank you for that.  And don’t worry, I’m well aware that you aren’t someone who takes slights lightly.  YOU can be reasoned with, while Nicholas just tends to do whatever he feels like in the moment.  The larger game was never his concern.”

Nero said, “I can see that.  He seems like a typical nerd.  Focusing on things that interest him while ignoring everything else.  Let’s get back to the ‘everything else’.  Did they send you the training schedule?  When do I have to move to the compound?”

Vera said, “Probably 4 days from now.  I’ve been going over the details they sent over while we were talking.  Just stay at the center until you hear from me.  I’ll be pinging you to keep you updated on events.  I’ll prepare everything; I have to do it for Nicholas anyway.  You just focus on preparing yourself for a drastic change in your lifestyle.  Take this seriously, as your life will depend on it.”

Nero nodded, “I’ll be reading and training.  That’s the entirety of my plans.  Let me know if I need to do anything else.”

As their conversation devolved into small talk, their ride came to an end.  Vera had some business at Center-Intake to deal with.  She had to organize her replacement, and have a ton of meetings.  Vera was dealing with a lot of stuff that Nero didn’t pay attention to.

While she went to her office, Nero went to the cafeteria.  The burrito he got from Jennings wasn’t enough, and he felt like pie was a good idea.