Mark of the Fool

Chapter 462: ...It Pours.

I mean Alex stammered. ButI dont have a bank account.

Really? Toraka Shale frowned. Youve been in the city for how long and you never opened a bank account?

Um His mind refused to cooperate, unable to string even two coherent thoughts together. I meanum I

Youve been here long enough to have a bank account. Where have you been keeping your money? She asked him.

Inin my apartment, Alex murmured, too stunned to even consider hiding the location of hiscomparatively meagre fortune.

Really? Well, youre going to open an account, then, she said sternly. If were going to be business partners, here's a lesson for you. Youre not going to stuff a hundred and ten thousand gold coinsbecause I am subtracting the twenty thousand that you owe me, by the wayunder your apartment floorboards like some common adventurer.

Alex was trembling. Iwha

Oh, dont get me wrong, she chuckled. A locked chest is good enough for a few thousand gold coins from any Games of Roal winnings. But, we dont call that real wealth in the circles I run in. Circles youll have to learn to run in soon enough. If the golems complete, and its as incredible as you claimeven half as incredible as Claygonthen youll get the other one hundred and thirty thousand I owe you.

The Thameish wizarda young man whod spent years slogging away in a bakery for a few silvers a shiftnearly fainted right there in the chair.

I he shuddered. Thatsfor that level of profityoure charging a lot more than anything I would have suggested.

She shrugged. Your second lesson: learn proper mark-ups. Youre creating an exclusive product that kings would stab their brothers for. Well charge accordingly.

I His knees trembled, tears welling up in his eyes. Butthat

Third lesson. She patted him on the shoulder. Never show how happy you are with how much money youre about to get. Makes people feel they could have gotten you for less. Anyway, youre about to be very, very rich, and if you keep negotiating and innovating like you are, I suspect that the Roth name will soon be a very important one here in Generasi. I do believe youre about to make the kind of money that dynasties are built on, Alex.

Ialrightthank youMrs. Shale, he choked out.

She smiled at him. Were about to become business partners, Alex. Call me Toraka. Oh, and by the way. Im making you head of sales for this entire project. You negotiate like a devil. Itd be a waste to let those skills rust away in the shop.

A-alright, he murmured.

She cocked her head at him. Well? Arent you going to get up? Or do you plan on having Claygon carry you to the lawyers office?

No! I can walk! Alex yelped, leaping up and following Toraka out the door with Claygon right behind.

And so, in the final step of the financial component of Operation Grand Summoning Ascension, the Roth-Shale Super Golem Crafting Project came to be.

It was a name that would be workshopped in the coming days.

Heavily.

Alex Roth stumbled home from the bank, leaning against Claygon.

His pouch was heavy with gold coins: a fraction of the fortune now sitting in his newly acquired bank account in the Generasi Central Bank. And that fortune was only a small fraction of the wealth he stood to make with Toraka over the next couple of years.

Alexs hands trembled at the thought.

I did it he murmured to himself as he and his golem made their way to the insula. I bloody did itby the Traveller, Im rich.

His mind raced, remembering the sums hed heard tossed around at the bank; the sort of coin that could buy entire towns back in Thameland.

I dont know what a lot of what was said meansbut congratulations, father, Claygon said.

Thanks, Claygon, Alex thought. Itsits life-changing, what just happened is absolutely life-changing.

Ina good way?

Oh yes, in a very good way, Alex thought. Oh, and dont you worry. These golems Im crafting arent going to be copies of you. Youll always be unique, my friend. Very unique.

It does not matter to me if there are others like me, came Claygons thought. There are other humans like you, father. But there is only one you.

Alex nearly choked up at his golems words.

Today was getting to be a bit much for his heart.

But, in a good way.

As he and Claygon stepped into the courtyard, he couldnt wait to tell Theresa and Selina the amazing news.

The arrow slipped from the huntress fingers, clattering to the floor as she stared at Alex in open mouthed shock. There was a thud as Selina dropped a textbook on the table, looking at Alex as though her brother had gone mad.

Have you gone completely mad? Selina asked. Thisthis has to be a joke, right?

Y-you saidone hundred and ten thousand gold coins, right? Theresa stammered. There was a thousand after that ten, right? I didnt just hallucinate that? Or dream it?

Alex sank into a chair by the table like his body had turned to jelly. Noyou heard it right, he said. Thatsyeah, wereuhWere rich beyond our wildest dreams, guys. Thatsits true.

Tears welled up in Selinas eyes. When you bought that building you said you had a lot of debt because of it

He made a cutting gesture with the edge of his hand. Gone, he said. All of the debts gone. And itll stay gone so long as I make a good golem. Alex smiled up at Claygon. And Roth golems are the best golems.

Oh by the Traveller, Alex! Theresa leapt out of her chair, sprang across the room and wrapped her arms around him. You did it! You can build your staff now!

I-uh, can do a bit more than make a staff now, Theresa. This is life-changingwe could buy

What matters to me is that you can make something thatll keep you and the rest of us safe. She hugged him tighter. Thats what counts.

Right then and there, Alex Roth promised himself that Theresa Lu would live like an empress for the rest of her life if that was something she ever wished for.

I dont Selina murmured, sliding out of her chair, walking lightly over to her brother and squeezing his arm. ...thank you, Alex. I thinkI think mother and father would be proud of you. I know I am.

Right then and there, Alex Roth promised himself that Selina Roth would live like an empress for the rest of her life if that's what she ever wished for.

As he basked in the embrace of his familywith a foundation of wealth finally firmly beneath their feethe thanked the Traveller for their good fortune. At long last, their future in Generasi was secure. With his new venture, Alex would be able to completely fix up their new bakery, transforming it into a thriving business and a wonderful home.

Hed be able to fund all of Selinas schooling, even beyond undergraduate studies. He could buy the supplies for Claygons speaker box without a second thought; soon his golem would be talking and singing to the aeld tree whenever he pleased.

For his friends, he could build magic items to protect them in battle, and make their lives easier in peace.

And as for Theresas parents? With so much coin coming in, he could fund their retirement whenever they wanted to take it. If they wanted to move to Generasi? Hed be able to snap his fingers and buy them a townhouse in the city, or even a villa in the countryside.

A major change had come to Alex Roth and his familys life again. A wonderful change.

A frown took his features.

A fragilechange.

All of thisgood fortuneits all dependent on me getting more dungeon core essence. I cant keep putting Khalik, Theresa and my other friends at risk helping me keep my supply of dungeon cores flowing. I have to come up with a way to get them myselfwhich isnt going to be easy. Theres a reason why dungeon raids are usually led by a team of magically empowered super-fighters blessed by a powerful god. Dungeon cores wont do us any good if I get killed trying to get my hands on them. And ifno, when the Raveners defeatedit could also mean no more dungeon cores.

He chewed his lip, fighting his own worries. Youll need to diversify, just like you would a spell list: make sure you have multiple paths for earning coin. More than one way to build your wealth. But, thats a later problem. Right now, you need to focus on building your staff and getting the bakery fixed u

Alex? You look like you swallowed a jug of vinegar. Selina frowned at him.

Hm? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking about things, he said as Theresa finally released him from her death grip of a hug. The bakery, for one. Ive got to get it cleaned out sooner or later.

Ooo! Can we go see it again? Selina asked. You hardly let me see much of it last time, and I really want to see where my rooms going to be.

The place is not fit for human habitation yet, he reminded her. Its not really fit for any habitation that doesnt involve cockroaches, rats, mice and other various varieties of vermin.

Please? She begged. I mean, wererich, now right? We should go to the city and celebrate! Like maybe go to that nice restaurant we went to for your birthday! And on the way therewe could take a look at the bakery.

Hmmmm, he thought the idea over. I dont know. Last thing you want is to catch some bakery-inflicted plague.

You said you used Orb of Air and Flight Potions when you looked at it withTroy was his name, right? We could do the same thing, and Im forcing you to let me take you out for a nice meal, Alex. Theresa said. We could see the place on the way, like Selina suggested. Cmon, Id love to go.

...alright, but dont complain to me if you both get flesh-eating disease, Alex said. Or if youre eaten by some giant, flying cockroach.

Look out! Alex cried, recoiling in horror.

The young Thameish wizard flew through the air, his feet hovering above the bakerys cluttered floorboards before his back collided with a wall. Stammering, he pointed ahead with a shaking hand. A giant, flying cockroach! Theresa, flee! We must flee for our lives!

Floating in the air ahead of him was the giant, flying cockroach: Selina. His younger sister put her hands on her hips, glaring at her brother. Alex, why do you have to be so silly sometimes?

Look out, Theresa! Alex screamed in mock terror. The flying giant cockroach can talk!

This giant flying cockroach is going to push a giant flying rat down the stairs if he doesnt stop! Selina yelled, floating high in the air, curling her fingers like claws.

Theresa, help! He cried. The cockroach is going to kill me

Sure Ill help... Ill help Selina, Theresa laughed, floating through the apartment, examining the rooms carefully.

Thanks, he said sourly. Some thanks I get.

You got thanks earlier, but then you started being weird, Selina pointed out, flying to another room. Also, this place isnt so bad. I meanits got a lot of stuff in it

She eyed the junk gathered in piles on the apartment floor. Alexs clean up operation had begun by his own effortshe hadnt had time to hire labourers yet but that effort had only seen the apartment go from horrifyingly unlivable, to slightly less horrifyingly unlivable.

And maybe having so much stuff all over the place isnt very nicebut the rooms are nice, and theres a lot of them. Our new home is gonna be really pretty once its all cleaned and fixed up, Selina said, brimming with optimism. Well wake up to the smell of fresh bread every morning! And Ill have a place to build things and study magic!

Oh yes, Alex said. Oncethe clean ups all finished, and the basements done, Im going to set up my workshop down there. You can have your own space too for studying and building whatever youd like. We might want somewhere bigger down the road, but for now, this place will really serve us well.

I can see us spending a lot of time on that rooftop garden. Theresa wiped grime from a window. Its too bad theres nowhere close by for Brutus to run, though.

A floor below, Brutus barked as though he was answering to his name being called.

No, Brutus! The huntress called down to the main floor. I dont want you up here eating anything buried in all of this trash, boy. You dont need old rotting rat in your belly!

She paused, frowning at Alex. Um, how are we going to get rid of the vermin anyway? If theres half as many roaches as you say you saw when we were here last time, then its going to be a nightmare and take a miracle to get rid of them all. My uncle once had a really bad cockroach infestation at his cottage, and father said it took him the better part of a year, and a whole lot of homemade poison to get rid of them.

Well, Alex cracked his knuckles. You let me worry about that. Ive got a fewplans, shall we say. Tomorrow, Im going on a bit of a shopping spree to get everything I need for my staff. Then Claygon and Ill be cleaning and sanitising the kitchen, and Ill bring my alchemy kit with me to do a little staff-building.

He smiled wickedly. At the same time, I have someplans for ouruninvited vermin guests. I dont think therell be a single roach or rat left in the building in a few days. No living ones, in any case.

His smile grew wider as he rubbed his hands together and planned his next task; the perfect combination of staff-building, and vermin extermination.

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