Salted Fish Inn, early next day. It was uncomfortably warm and wet.
Jack, Aldric, and Bren sat down and ate in the eating area of the first floor.
Bren and Aldric didn't go to work that day.
Jack himself had a serious amount of food on his side, and his body seemed to have grown about one centimeter and his physique looked as if he had trained for at least two weeks.
All of this was due to the effects of the ring artifact that Jack made.
"Are you really moving to the North-Side?" —Bren
The North-Side was the upper district of Port Bravo. It was on the other side of Ahatot river that spilled into the sea, a distributary of Behatot which was west on the other side of Troc, serving as a natural border.
It couldn't be used to travel due to the uneven deepness of the river causing boats to get stuck.
As for the North-Side, it was reachable by just walking upwards on Worker's Street; its residents were rich merchants and low-ranking nobles on the interior area, and higher-ranking nobles under the rank of Count on the outer areas where they could build larger mansions.
To live there you either needed to meet a minimum taxation quota or have a social rank of at least Knight.
So what Bren was asking here was not just why Jack was moving, but rather how he became a Knight since Jack was in no way capable of reaching the tax quota.
Jack took a sip from his beer before he responded.
"Yes." —Jack
"But isn't this too soon?" —Aldric
"How so?" —Jack
"You just came back yesterday and told me you are moving to Up Town." —Aldric
Up Town was another way to call the North-Side.
"Well, I also wanted to take my time to think and be polite before accepting, but he gave me reasons to accept immediately." —Jack
"And those are?" —Aldric
Bren stood there watching the 'interrogation'.
That I'd go bankrupt... Also, how could I refuse a better standard of living? Use your brain, Aldric!
"There are social etiquette lessons; after all, I'm gonna go to work for the Count." —Jack
"Go on." —Aldric
There are also those long and wide industrial rolls of paper that Victor apparently developed and manufactured for convenience when making artifacts...
"Uhh... There's..." —Jack
"So you just rashly accepted it." —Aldric
After a while of listening to the two of them talk about how Jack was rash and that he shouldn't just trust anyone, especially someone promising to rise them up in society, Bren finally spoke.
"You haven't even begun learning to read; two weeks is not enough to learn that." —Aldric
"How about this?" —Bren
Aldric and Jack looked at Bren.
"How about you go with Jack and meet with this benefactor?" —Bren
"So you are proposing?" —Jack
"Just how you told me you did with that guy Randam, get a church member as a witness." —Bren
"That could work, but I'll have to ask Priest Aldwin if I can go." —Aldric
Aldric stood up. The church was a few hundred meters away, so he could easily go and come back quickly.
"Alright, take your time." —Bren
Bren and Jack ate while waiting for Aldric and chatted about rumors and gossip. During this, a Nordic lady with white hair walked by towards the counter while carrying a gray cloak at her side since it was too warm to wear it outside.
It was Emlyn!
Jack instinctively looked at her and slightly smiled, watching her back. Soon after, he snapped out of his daze.
Damn this ring...
"Maybe we should have gone to the Sixth Tavern?" —Bren, while looking at Jack's, you know what.
"Shut up." —Jack
Later in the evening,
Both Jack and Aldric, who was dressed in a clerical robe, boarded the carriage. It drove the two of them through the town from the church down the street to the warehouses area, following that road right towards the clock-tower market, then up Worker Street towards the bridge, eventually crossing into North-side. A while later, after exiting the opulent area, it followed a road without any buildings that eventually split in two.
One went towards the Count of Lut mansion and the other towards the guest mansion where Victor was staying.
In the garden of Victor's mansion,
Aldric was nervous, while Jack was perfectly calm.
Jack was also carrying a cloth bag with two sets of clothes, a few papers, his Albus and Flora, a few letters from Victor teaching him about Instability and Magic. He kept the Mutated Quill on him since it was dangerous for other people to use it.
"Let's go in." —Jack
"Alright." —Aldric
While entering, one of the maids greeted him with a respectful bow, and he handed her his bag.
"Is Victor busy?" —Jack
"His Grace is waiting for you in his laboratory." —Maid
"Thank you." —Jack
The maid bowed and left to prepare Jack's room. Looking at her move the bag, he noticed the papers inside and remembered that he hadn't written any diary pages this week.
I completely forgot to write those things. I need to get back to writing them daily as soon as possible; I could use them as a reference for what day it is.
"Good. I'll take you to Victor so you can chat with him." —Jack
"Just like that?" —Aldric
"Just like that." —Jack