Chapter 30: Our Master of Wizards.
There were several things I never thought I'd do in my life. One of which was talk to myself. Caius Vel Bartar, he was a version of me before I became Jane but his history also diverged from mine. It was strange being around him and I had no doubt he thought the same of me. Why? Because we were both incredibly different. My memories as Caius felt incredibly far and although they created the basis of who I was, I didn't consider them a binding factor. My lives as Jane and Rain were far more important and to be honest I enjoyed them so much more. For Caius, it was all he had and from this point onwards there was no telling what either of our futures held.
The journey to Waltersea Port was about as much as I expected. With Caius and Marley along for the ride, we split the rooms back into males and females, something which Taylor was heavily against. The problem didn't last long however as we soon changed to the cabins of the ship. At first I was anxious as to how everyone would treat Caius but he blended among us quickly, holding an illusion on himself to make him appear human. Marley treated him the same as anyone else and to my surprise he found a companionship with Earnest. The two could sit silently beside each other for hours in peace and then suddenly talk quite livelily. Some of their topics caused me regret as Caius freely traded stories with Earnest about their more adult adventures. I swear he was doing it on purpose just so Taylor would glare at me.
While on the boat we prepared our tools and equipment. It was quite leisurely in comparison to what was coming. I mixed potions a lot of the time and Taylor would watch, slowly learning, sometimes even helping me cook. Caius had no need for potions as he could use healing magic almost as well as Marley, something which she pouted about. She was quite happy however when I told her he could only use it on himself and not others. Due to his talents in certain fields of mana and lack of in others, his disposition for magic was unique, though not so much like mine.
Eventually we reached our first stop, the river gates to the Empire. Like last time we were guided into its large mouth and pulled to the dock for inspection. A different but equally haughty group of soldiers climbed aboard.
"Okay you lot, what are you here for?" their leader spoke with a condescending gaze.
I answered simply, "We're traders and tourists."
"Is that so?" a greedy smirk plastered onto his face. "Do you have the correct passes?"
"Like these?" I pulled out the papers the Queen had given us in advance. They were the basic licenses to trade with the Empire.
He flicked through them not even reading, "Ah these aren't right at all. This here is only for land trade."
Surprisingly he was right. A simple mistake was all it took to avoid suspicion, "What that can't be?" I turned to Taylor in fake anger, "Don't tell me you bought the wrong ones!"
She shivered back in a whimper, "S-sorry, I must not have checked it properly. Please forgive me."
The solider cleared his throat, showing a false concern, "Well this certainly is a problem but we might just be able to fix it. A few coins in the right place and we can send you on your way."
I took his bait wholeheartedly, "Oh please dear sir. This ship is our livelihood."
He scratched his chin in thought, "Hmm this much cargo, you're looking at 1200 Imperial Silver."
I almost broke my act. This bastard was greedier than I thought. That much money was practically enough to buy the entirety of all the goods we had on board. There wouldn't be any profit. Sure I wasn't a real trader but what he was asking for was too much.
"Y-you must be joking. That's too much."
He shook his head, "Unfortunately not. Either that or we'll have detain you all here."
I frowned as his eyes licked over Taylor and Marley behind her. So that's what he was going for. I sighed, it would have been better for him to just take what he could get, "Screw it. Plan B. Caius you're up."
"Good, they were beginning to annoy me," he stepped out seemingly from behind them as the soldiers jumped in fright drawing their weapons.
"Hold it right there you! We're soldiers of the Empire. D-do anything and we'll report you," a weasel like man shouted clearly frightened.
A flow of mana escaped Caius as he smiled innocently, "No need for violence. You all were a great help. In fact you sorted all our papers and even gave us free passage down the river."
Their minds began to tick as the spell weaved its way into their consciousness, "We… yes we did that."
"Exactly," Caius nodded and handed them a bag of coins. "And in return we gave you this as thank you."
The soldier's expressions loosened, "Yes."
"Now off you go," Caius gestured for them to leave and shambling they did so. The spell began to ware off as they reached the dock.
Their leader turned to us haughty once more but his mind altered, "Now you better be thankful for what we did."
"Of course," I smiled as they gave the signal to open the gate and we were released from the dock. Once we were out of sight I clasped Caius' shoulder, "Good job."
"I would have preferred if they resisted and we went with plan C," he snarled in their direction.
"As would I," Earnest agreed.
I glared at them both, "We can't go around killing people. Remember we're trying not to cause suspicion."
"Can't be suspicious if they're all dead," Caius smirked. I knew it was a joke but it still sent a shiver down my spine, he was easily capable of doing that.
I turned away from them and walked towards Taylor and Marley, "So it should be smooth sailing from here right?"
"Now quite," Taylor held up the map. "Once we get to the Imperial city we need to pass through three more checkpoints to reach the closest dock to the Magician's Guild."
"Hmmm, why don't we just land here and pass this way," Marley pointed to the east of the city.
"Those are the slums… it wouldn't be much slower and we'd go through undetected but…," her eyes turned downwards.
I gently touched her hand, "We can do the same thing we did just now. If you're not comfortable we don't have to go that way."
She shook her head, "No, it would the safest way. We don't know the situation at the Guild and they might not even let us land. Besides I still might have some contacts that can help. I've stolen from the Magician's Guild before, I can get us in again."
"Thank you Taylor."
"Just please don't think any less of me when we get there… I did some things I'm not proud of."
"So did I," I pointed behind me where Caius stood talking with Earnest.
Marley huffed, "Where's my thanks. I was the one who suggested it."
"I'll cook you a steak, is that good enough?"
"You better start now then," she grinned and with that we made our way to the slums of the Empire.