276 A Place To Stay

Bokuboy

The carriage arrived back at the docks and I had the driver take us right down to the ship. I ignored the dozen bodies in military uniforms that were scattered around the dock in front of the ship as I stepped out of the carriage. I handed out Gella and Farra, which made Baroness Sellwafer pale. I reached in and dragged her and her still unconscious husband out of the carriage and over to the ship.

“Jensen! Get a slave or two and take these two serfs below, strip them, give them appropriate clothing, and shackle them.” I said and he barked a couple of orders. “They are my serfs and they won't be touched.”

“We all know the rules, sir.” Jensen said and ignored the sobbing from the woman. Two women slaves came over and saw the two rich people that were now serfs and smiled as they grabbed them and dragged them into the ship.

“Farra, get me the ninth mage book.” I said and she nodded and ran after the slaves. “I need six volunteers to help me move my riches onto the ship and down into my cabin.”

Not surprisingly, I had a dozen volunteer.

“You're hired. Unload the carriage and you get a gold crown each.”

“YESSIR!” The men said and went to the carriage, then they let out whistles of appreciation.

“You weren't kiddin', sir! You're loaded!” One of them said as he and another man carried one of the large sacks.

“I've got two thirds full of a large chest of gold back home, too.” I told them and they laughed.

“No wonder he felt bad about taking his cut! Ha ha!” The other guy said and unloaded the carriage to put the sacks of gold onto the deck of the ship and then they picked up the large chest and added it to the pile. A few of the smaller sacks had broken open inside the carriage and one of the men took out a sack and filled it to get it all and added it to the pile.

“I may have more coming, too.” I said and the men gave me surprised looks, then they laughed and laughed. I went to the driver of the carriage. “Do you know where I can get a good sturdy skiff with wheels?”

“No, sir. You'd have to make something like that.” The driver said and pointed down the docks. “You can get parts over there for the wheels and things. I don't know where you'll get the wood.”

“We've got lots of wood.” I said and handed him another handful of gold crowns. “I'll be taking a trip to the bank after I get the ship handled and then back to the Henrietta Longshore estate.”

“Yessir, I'll be your driver for a month with this.” The driver said, happily. “I'll wait up by the end to get out of everyone's way.”

I nodded and went inside the ship to meet up with Farra, Jensen, and my new serfs. I took the book and opened it to the proper page and put a hand on Baroness Sellwafer's forehead. “Debt.”

The woman gasped when her forehead tingled and then nothing else seemed to happen.

What we saw was something different. She now had a number tattoo on her forehead. As she worked, the number would go down. The more she did, the faster the numbers would drop. I cast the same spell on the Baron and an identical number appeared on his forehead, which meant the harder the pair worked, the quicker the number would drop on both their foreheads.

I nodded at the two women slaves and they grinned as they proceeded to slap the man's face a bunch of times to wake him up. He woke with a start and felt three more slaps before the slaves stopped. They did that on purpose and I nodded at them again. The two women giggled and picked the man up to stand him on his feet.

“These two slaves will show you your duties on the ship. The more you work, the quicker your debt will be paid off.” I explained. “The less you work or if you work poorly, the longer you will be serfs.”

“Can't you just sell me back to my family?” Baroness Sellwafer asked.

“They can't afford you.” I said and she sighed. “Get them situated into a cabin and they can bunk together.”

The two women slaves nodded and grabbed the serfs by the arm and walked them out of the room.

I gave the book back to Farra and she left to put it back in my cabin. “Jensen, get a good a work crew and gather enough wood to make a platform wide enough to hold the keel of the ship.”

Jensen's eyes widened and then he grinned. “Yessir.”

We went back up on deck and I went down the dock to the store that the driver told me about. They had exactly what I needed and I bought them. I loaded up a hand cart with the parts and went back down the dock to the ship.

“The best spot is over on the side where they launch ships.” Jensen said and pointed.

I nodded and we all went down the docks and around to where the new ships were pushed off into the water. We got to work and made a wide platform, just under the width of a street, with wheels. I attached both the structural enhancement enchantment and the weight enchantment, then told them to keep the wood braces ready to apply when needed.

“Sir, are you really going to do this?” One of the men asked.

“I can't leave it here to be raided or stolen.” I said and went back down the docks to the ship. “Unhook us!”

The crew complied immediately and Farra, Gella, Hanna, Molly, and the old man took up their positions. We powered up the enchantments and I moved the ship out from the dock sideways, shocking everyone watching us, then I raised the ship almost completely out of the water. The crowd gasped at us and I turned the ship to point right at the launch site.

“He's really going to do it! HAHAHAHA!” The crew waiting for us laughed.

I ran the ship right up the side of the launch site and onto the waiting platform as if it was my old flat bottomed boat. The men quickly attached the support beams to the platform and the sides of the ship to keep it upright. I activated the weight enchantment on the platform and let the one on the ship go. The ship settled and didn't tip over, thanks to the braces.

“That actually worked!” Jensen yelled up at me.

“Get me a team of horses!” I said and tossed down a small sack of gold. He and a few crewmen ran off to do so, because they wanted to see if it would work.

“My lord, you're amazing.” Hanna said as she came over to my side.

“As my slave, you have to say that.” I said and she smiled.

“No, my lord. As your slave I have to follow your orders. I don't have to compliment you or tell you I like you.” Hanna said and blushed. “Um... forget I said that last part.”

“Is that why you haven't chosen to become a maid?” Gella asked her as Jensen and the crew came back with a six horse team to hook up to the wheeled platform.

“I don't have the dedication needed.” Hanna said and her blush didn't fade. “I can't put my feelings aside like that and serve a lord and also have a man in my life.” She glanced across the deck and saw Ann wave to her. “I admire Ann so much and I can't do her job like she can. I just can't.”

The horses were hooked up and Jensen went to the carriage driver to get him to take control. He had them hook the back of the carriage to the team of horses and then they were off.

Everyone at the docks and on the streets stared as our ship, the size of a frigate, was pulled out of the launch area as if it weighed almost nothing and then it was pulled through the streets towards the Mages Guild. The crew were having a great time waving at all the people staring at them and hollered that they were a land ship now and nothing could stop them.

We soon arrived at the Mages Guild and I had to go down to open the gates for the carriage. I stood there and watched a huge ship drive by me and my mind whirled over the implications it could have.

I think I just made a new weapon for the war. I thought and closed the gate. I went over to the ship and the crew quickly made a large set of steps for everyone on the ship to get down.

I gave them orders to claim the bottom two floors for crew quarters and to clean the place up for their use. No one was to go higher than that until I came back. We would take inventory and see where we could go from there.

Farra, Gella and I took the carriage back out and down to the bank to handle the Sellwafer's contract breaches. When we entered the bank, everyone froze.

“I need the Sellwafer's account manager.” I said and a woman let out a startled squeak. I walked over to her and she was shivering in fear. “My apologies for bothering you.” I said and bowed deeply, then stood up. I explained the situation about them breaching their business contracts and exclusive contracts with the Henrietta Longshore family and how I was claiming the penalties for defaulting on them.

The woman's face was angry. “I can't believe they would tell you those lies!”

I gave her a surprised look and it was her turn to explain.

“Even if the branch is dead, which it clearly wasn't at the time with the Henrietta heir, the contracts would default to the bank and held in trust for the son.” The woman said. “His shares would be phenomenal when he comes of age.”

I didn't tell her that he was dead. “Would you care to remain in charge of the account? The business is still making lots of money, even if they have to pay me so much in penalties.”

The woman's eyes widened. “You... you aren't going to kill me?”

“Why would I? I killed Carson because he robbed me and my family and profited from it. You are actually upset that the Sellwafers were robbing me. I don't kill unless it's necessary.”

The woman sighed. “I think... yes, I can stay in charge, assuming you're not going to empty the account like you did to yours.”

“I can do you one better.” I said and handed her a piece of paper that had the Mages Guild account info on it. “I own this now. Fold it into my personal account and only start making payments from the Sellwafer account into mine.”

The woman took the paper and gasped. “You... you really...”

“Yes, I killed the Grand Mage, the Mages Council, and about a hundred and fifty mages at the guild building, which I've already claimed and my crew is renovating now.”

The woman stared at me with her mouth hanging open.

“What's your name?” Gella asked.

“Evette.” The woman answered.

“Welcome to the crew, Evette. Be good to my lord and he will reward you handsomely.” Gella said.

Evette looked at the paper and then at the Sellwafer account and I assumed she was quickly calculating how many payments she would be transferring into my personal account. It made her smile widely.

“Yes, I see.” Evette said. “Thank you for choosing to accept me as your account manager, my lord.”

I nodded to her and left the bank. I had to get back to the Henrietta Longshore estate and pick up Greta and Jill. I had left them alone there for a while now and hadn't intended to do all this running around when I left them there. The driver took the carriage there and we went right up to the front doors.

Jill was there with several bags of things and three bundles of cloth. “When the Grand Mage died, his vaults opened.” She said and passed me the largest bundle. “That's several artifacts and the deeds for the businesses they used to own.”

I passed the bundle into the carriage to Farra. She put it under the seat.

“That one is really heavy and is full of gold and precious gemstones.” Jill said and pointed.

I carried it into the carriage myself and added it to the seat storage.

Jill didn't mention the last bundle and told me to put the luggage on the top rack of the carriage. She picked up the bundle and entered the carriage to sit beside Farra.

“What's that?” Farra asked.

“Something Lady Helena made me promise to take care of.” Jill said.

I finished putting the luggage on the rack and then went into the mansion. I went to Administrator Lannin's office and he was no longer there. The bag of gold was, so I grabbed it and went up the stairs to my old bedroom.

“I wasn't dreaming!” Greta gasped and shot to her feet.

“I wish I was.” I said and went to the safe. I emptied it and hung my old bandoleer over my shoulders and then secured the pouches of regeneration potion in my old backpack. I added the books, potion recipes, and the child things, then left the vault open to show everyone that it was empty.

“Are you coming with me?” I asked her.

“Yes, David.” Greta said and walked over to me. “Out of everyone I've ever met, you're the only one who accepted me for who I was. You never made demands or forced me to do anything I didn't want to do.”

“Greta...”

“You let me find my passion for potions again.” Greta said and took my arm. “Teaching was a joy with you in the class. Your insights and your ideas sparked hundreds of my own and I've never felt so compelled to create and to enjoy my craft.”

“Then I left.” I said and started to walk out of the room with her on my arm.

“Yes, and what a devastating blow that was.” Greta said. “Almost immediately, the Mages Guild made their move and started taking over what they could. Almost no one resisted, except those that knew what it meant.”

“They were killed first.” I said and she nodded. “Ellen has had a hard time keeping the kingdom together.”

“Unbelievably so.” Greta said as we went down the stairs. “At least King Richard enacted the repairs to the marsh canal before he was murdered.”

“They fixed it?” I asked.

“They stopped the constant drainage and the water in the canal is maintained by the sea it's attached to and not the marsh.”

“I knew that would work and drying the marsh out was on purpose.” I said.

“The mages wanted to cover up just how much they stripped the place.” Greta said as we exited the mansion.

“The Grand Mage told me how much they made with my ingredients, so I took it from him and the guild. Now I own everything they did.”

Greta caught her breath and stared at me as we stopped walking beside the carriage. “You did it? You killed them?”

“Everyone in the guild building that my crew is renovating.” I said and she smiled. “How would you like to run the place for me?”

“M-me?” Greta asked, surprised.

“You're the only one I would trust in my stead.” I said and held up my free hand to show off my missing fingers.

“Ah, I see.” Greta said and nodded. “I would be honored to help you make that building work for you instead of against you.”

“Thank you.” I said.

“I'll also contact my sister to come and oversee your recovery.” Greta said.

“Will she come?” I asked.

Greta nodded. “She's been screaming for more healing and wound cleaning potions.”

“You ran out of ingredients.” I said and she nodded.

“With the guild not letting anyone not approved by the guild to buy more ingredients, I had to leave the academy and I haven't made anything in almost two months.” Greta said.

“The botany floors are undamaged.” I said and Greta beamed a smile at me. “The potion making areas are also intact. The office is full of bodies, though.”

Greta laughed. “You even cleaned up while massacring them? You wonderful man!”

I had to smile at her enthusiasm. I didn't question why she was so happy about all of her former coworkers being killed, mainly because she was dealing with all the death and destruction in her own way. Either that, or she expected it and I was doing it much faster than she expected me to. We climbed into the carriage and went back to the the old Mages Guild building, to make sure things were going to plan.