"You have quite an ambition Remus," said Lancel as he looked at the document in his father's hand.
"You can't blame me for it, my lord. Ever since I saw the show in Jalrux, I couldn't get it off my mind,"
"I want to create something like it," I replied.
"Creating the show mages isn't an easy task. Forget the huge amount of money it will require. You will also need talent and years of time to make them," said Count as put down the document.
"I understand it, my lord, but if I succeeded. It will bring me a tremendous fortune and also a few levels," I said, and he shook his head.
"It is not a simple thing. Many try, but most fail, and you will be trying it with the whores. There is a very high chance that not a single one of them might have a mage talent," he cautioned.
"You are right, my lord, but I have to try. If I am able to achieve it, it will be an accomplishment for me," I replied, and he sighed.
"It is such a regret; you have been forced into this Class. If you had standard Merchant Class, you would have been able to do much more," he said, and I smile.
He is thinking I am doing this for the levels, and he is not completely wrong, but it is not my primary reason.
My primary reason is purely financial.
If I want to be the best business, and I have to make it different from others, offer things that others do not have. Brothels do not have shown mages; I have not heard a single one of them training their girls to become show mages.
It will really help me tremendously if I could make a show mage group. Even a small one would bring tremendous benefits.
While is right about failure or it is taking years along with enormous investment, I am willing to do it, because the benefits would be worth it.
"It is all past, my lord," I said. He smiled and looked down at the paper.
"Your business may be respectful, but you are an honest merchant. Even your whores pay taxes, unlike the bastards who skim them,"
"So, I am giving you the permission, with the hope that you will find success in it, no matter how far-fetched it seemed," he said and signed the document.
Usually, there is a long bureaucratic process for these kinds of things. Thankfully, knowing the lord of the city had its benefits. With this sign, I won't need to go through the tedious process.
I will send it to the city hall and will get all permits and licenses I will need.
"Thank you, my lord," I said and put the document in the file.
I left soon after. Though, I will be returning in the evening. There is a weekly council meeting. Which won't last for long; there is only one important point and I have already smoothened everything about it.
So, if all goes well. It will be over within an hour.
I have many things to do today. Go to the establishment, meet with Valentina, and train Fang, which is turning out to be frustratingly hard; it is like he didn't want to listen.
It had been a week since I had started training him, and I have come to know a few details about him.
First, he is smart. Not dog smart, but really smart. He is also stubborn and aggressive, but there is good news, especially about the last trait.
His aggressive nature feels psychological, and while I couldn't deny the genetic factor that might be responsible for it. I feel like he could be trained to control it, whether I could do it, I don't know.
Considering, I have not been able to teach him to sit even after a week.
If the trainer is good enough, most puppies learn it in a few hours at most.
Soon, I sat in the carriage as it moved toward the establishment.
Fifteen minutes later, the carriage pulled into the gates of the establishment, and I got out of it.
As I stepped into the hall, and saw the girls taking lessons in the partitions. All of them learning a much greater focus than a week ago, especially the new girls.
It is after debut; the girls truly understand the value of these lessons and work hard to learn.
Soon, I reached my office and sat in my seat, and opened the file in front of me, with a smile on my face.
This thing is bringing a smile to my face every day of the past week.
"Sixteen points three five," I said, reading the file. The establishment earnings in tandem with the first day's numbers. Rising slowly each day; within a week, the earning rose by a million.
It will slow down but will keep rising.
I had expected this on the first day, given the previous data as Carla reminded me, but I still decided to wait for a week, before finally getting permission from Count Darrow.
This will be my biggest investment, and, unlike most, it will take a lot of time, but as I had said to Count Darrow, I am willing to take the risks.
You need to take the risks to rise in the business.
Click!
I was reading the information when the door clicked open and Carla and Margaux walked inside.
"Master Silver," greeted Margaux. "Margaux," I said as both of them sat.
"What is this?" asked Carla, seeing the unfamiliar file. "The one you have been asking about," I replied and a faint surprise appeared in her eyes.
She touched the file and seeing, I am not saying anything. She pulled it toward her.
"Is this the thing you have been working on?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered, and she arched her brow in question, but I only smiled. She glared at me faintly before opening the file.
For a few seconds, her expressions were curious, before suddenly her expressions changed drastically. So much that Margaux leaned in the curiosity toward the file, before pulling herself back.
It took her over ten minutes for her to read out my detailed plan before she closed her eyes.
More than five seconds later, she opened her eyes and darted them at me.
"This is extremely ambitious and impossible to achieve," she said, and I smiled. "Ambitious yes. It will also require a lot of time and I will need to spend a fortune, but it is not impossible, just hard to achieve," I replied.
"It would be better. If we focused that money, somewhere else," she said, and I shook my head.
"No, waiting is not an option, the sooner we start. The sooner we will get the results," I said, and she sighed.
She didn't agree with me, but she is willing to believe in my vision.
"I had heard about them from Ina. She said it is one of the best things she had ever seen," she said after a moment of silence.
Ina had seen the mage show in Jalrux. There was a show, and she had brought a ticket to that; she had informed me about it in her message a few days ago.
She had returned from Navr yesterday and would come back to the city tomorrow with the goods.
"Margaux, look at it and tell me thoughts about it," I said and her hands moved so fast toward the file that it kind of surprised me.
She also seemed to understand what she had done as her cheeks reddened.
She controlled herself for a couple of seconds before reading the file and, like Carla, her expressions had also changed drastically.
Far more than that of Carla. There even some wetness appeared in her eyes.
I didn't comment and let her finish.
"What do you think?" I asked as she put down the file.
"Mages are not easy to make; there is a lot of study involved, along with many resources and, most importantly, the talent," she said.
Margaux knows about it more than others; her daughter had been admitted into a mage course in the academy. It is cheaper to learn in the academies; they provide expert teachers and wide facilities.
Well, I am not trying to make the girls into full fledge mages as the academies do; I am trying to make show mages.
They will learn the most basic spells.
"It is hard, which is why we will start immediately. The first step would be finding the talents. Only after that, we could start thinking about teachers and other resources," I said and couldn't help but feel myself getting excited.
I could even see the girls performing the show in front of me. It might take time, but it will happen.
I touched the button on the intercom. "Call Zela and Shaun in my office," I said. They are mages and I would need to use this thing. I thought as I took out a palm size blue crystal ball from my Iles bag.
I had ordered it from the Namdar; it had come two days ago.
Click!
A few minutes later, two of them entered the room.
"You have called for us, Mr. Silver?" asked Shaun, while Zela's eyes directly fell on the crystal battle in front of me.
"Yes. I was wondering. If you two know how to operate this thing?" I asked, and his eyes also fell on the crystal battle.
"It is a mage-sensing ball, right?" he asked, and I nodded. "Yes, then we know how to operate it," he replied.
I could see the question in his and Zela's eyes, but they didn't ask.
"Good, I want you to operate it," I said and slid it toward them, before turning to Margaux and Carla.
"Would you two be willing before we call the girls?" I asked. Carla nodded immediately, while Margaux hesitated, before nodding.
"You two can start," I said to the two mages. They nodded before Shaun took the crystal ball and turned to Carla.
"Madama, Carla, we will start with you," said Stan with a smile on his face. "What do I have to do?" she asked nervously.
Carla is rarely nervous, but this time, she is. There is also hope hidden beneath it.
"Just place your hand on the ball," he instructed.
She nodded and nervously placed a hand on the battle. For a moment, nothing happened before the ball turned white. Seeing that, I sighed and even the smile on the face of Shaun froze for a moment.
"It seemed like the spells are not for you, Madam Carla," said Shaun politely.
"I am too old to learn them anyway," she replied, but I could see the disappointment and sadness in her eyes. The same emotions I had felt when I realized I didn't have a talent for it.
Mage talent is rare, only a thousand in one have, and it is only the first step. Learning to cast the spell is another challenge in itself.
"Welcome to the club, Carla," I said to her, and she smiled.
"Madam Margaux," said Shaun as he placed the crystal ball in front of her. She hesitated for a second, before placing her right hand on it.
A second later, it turned yellow, surprising the three of us.
There are three colors the ball could turn to when touched. First is white, which means no talent, second is green, which means mage talent, and the third is yellow, which means the person not only has a mage talent but also unlocked it.
Mage talent is usually dormant; one needs to unlock it. It rarely happens naturally. Usually, it is mages who help you unlock.
She unlocked it on her; which means she gained the Mana attribute.
All three of us looked at her, and she seemed to understand what we were thinking.
"I didn't know, I had talent till a few months ago when I unlocked it during the treatment in the spa," she said, looking all guilty.
"You don't have to feel guilty, Margaux. Everyone is entitled to their secrets," I said to her, and relief flooded into her eyes.
I will not be angry at her or anyone for keeping a secret.
As long as it didn't affect my business and me, I don't care about the secret, no matter how big it is.