64. A World With Mana

64. A World With Mana

“So this is what, a magic circle? How does this help us?”

A menacing grin slipped onto Aurora’s face as she started to explain, leaning forward in her seat with enthusiasm.

“What you are holding, is knowledge. Hard to come by knowledge that countries worldwide will be after. That is the beginning of a runic formation that will create a barrier that repels monsters.”

Gareth's eyes lit up in realisation again as he looked back at the crude sketch with appraising eyes.

“And with the manufacturing capabilities we will have at the time everything goes downhill, we will be the only company worldwide with the ability to make them. At least for a time, anyway. That is just one of many examples, another will be the skilled blacksmiths I have had Harold hire who will be capable of forging advanced magical weaponry. These are just a few examples of the many monopolies I plan on creating. Granted, they will not last forever, but they will put us in the best position to grow and have a large voice nationally, and if we play it right, globally.”

Leaning back again, Aurora eyed Gareth as he mulled over her words, his mind processing everything she had told him. After all, it was his sharp mind that was what had first brought him to her attention all those years ago, and thus his meteoric rise through the conglomerate.

After a few minutes of Gareth looking at the magic circle with a thousand-mile stare, he nodded to himself as his eyes refocused and his attention focused on her.

“Well, I have to admit that everything you had previously discussed with me lines up with the new revelations, but in all seriousness, can we go back to the point where you became a woman instead of dying in a car crash? And became a wizard? Well, I guess witch would be more accurate?”Rêạd new chapters at novelhall.com

Aurora let out a slightly exasperated sigh as she began to give a more in-depth explanation of her time entering Caelus, briefly being interrupted as their food was served. By the end of her explanation and the use of some less intensive magic that had Gareth enamoured, Gareth asked the next big question of the evening.

“So, Chester- sorry, it's Aurora now, despite the changes your old appearance still overlaps with our interactions over the last few weeks. Anyway, you gave a rough outline of what happened in the UK, but what about elsewhere?”

Aurora let out a long breath, she knew that particular question would need to be answered but was unenthused but the headache-inducing topic of global politics.

“Ah yes, Global politics, that is a mess to begin with. Well, I will give a brief summary I guess. Initially, there was a worldwide economic pause as the world scrambled to deal with the new security problems. For countries with a higher population density, this tended to take less time as governments coordinated with their citizens and their capable armed forces and Caelus players to quickly contain any Dungeon rifts. Of course, higher population densities also faced higher casualties, either from panic-induced stampedes or the monsters themselves. However, countries like Australia with large swaths of uninhabited land took a lot longer, tending to fortify their cities and towns since it would take large amounts of manpower to cover the entire country.”

Taking a moment to have a forkful of her duck, Aurora continued with a thoughtful expression.

****

Following her meeting with Gareth, Aurora returned home, her mind swirling from the mental strain of all the day's activities and the emotional turmoil that had plagued her throughout. Upon seeing the grand steps up to her front door from the window of the Rolls Royce as it stopped on the gravel driveway, she could only let out a deep breath as she felt some of the tension leave her now she was home.

As she stepped out of the Rolls Royce, Aurora spotted Harold standing at the recently opened front door of the manor.

With careful steps as she walked the short distance across the gravel to the stable stone slabs that lined the ground in front of the building, she approached her butler who gave a warm greeting.

“Good evening your grace, I presume the shopping trip and meeting went well?”

Aurora gave a pleased smile as she walked through the door, placing the strap of her handbag onto Harold's offered hand.

“Yes, quite. Now that Gareth is aware of the situation and that the current change in ownership in the Branford group won't impact any of the prior arrangements we had made, he seemed significantly relieved. Things should hopefully go smoothly, especially with the board of directors.”

With a nod, Harold spoke his thoughts aloud, the only hint of emotion coming from his stoic figure in his tone.

“I am pleased to hear it. You seem to be more at ease compared to this morning which reassures me to no end. On another note, Marie returned home while Roxanne and Ben are now on the outside patio of the west wing waiting for you along with Tyrell who arrived half an hour ago.”

With a slight giggle, Aurora smiled as she responded.

“From the aroma on the wind when I returned, I could tell.”

Harold let out an exasperated sigh as he handed her bag to a passing maid, stepping forwards as he spoke, opening the ground floor entryway doors to the west wing for Aurora.

“Ah, yes. Please remind Ben to close the doors to the games room when he uses them, I needn’t remind you of the complaints I received from Head maid Hilda the last time.”

Aurora let out another giggle as she remembered walking in on a particularly annoyed Hilda complaining to Harold with the backdrop of multiple maids using air fresheners on the games room's fabrics.