System Change

Derek left Malorie to her… Rudy’s office with a smile plastered on his face. He’d have to go talk to Natalie about the property information and why he was given such special treatment when she didn’t even give herself or her noble house the same kind of treatment. Of course, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in its mouth, which is why he told Malorie to go ahead and buy it all.

To be fair, whether he rented or bought the property didn’t matter much to Derek. It was all the same to him. Honestly, the biggest factor was that once he bought the property instead of renting it, Malorie would have less on her plate to worry about. It won’t be much less, but every little bit counts.

If not for that, with the amount of gold he already had, it was enough to rent lot 33801 and the other two for the remainder of his lifespan—as long as he made it to the same age as Edwin. I wonder if that evolution changed my longevity. That’s one of those questions I wish I would have thought about when I was speaking with Dave. I’m able to regrow limbs, so having a longer lifespan wouldn’t be too surprising.

What I do know, Derek thought. Is that Geoffrey is going to be a very busy man soon? He half laughed to himself at the thought. The slimy businessman was his go to contractor, and with two more lots to work with, Derek would be building on them sooner rather than later. He’d also just saw the materials that Tyron used for the dragon kennels, and he thought that those would make pretty decent material to build with. On top of that, they seemed to take to being equipped with runes quite well. Hell… I love the mystical glow that the Void Emporium has, but it may be worth it to see about adding some of those other materials into the current shop as well.

Making the Void Emporium an indestructible fortress hadn’t crossed his mind before, but since building it, the war happened, and he didn’t know if something like that would come along again. At least we’ve pretty much secured peace throughout this continent. The dwarves don’t sound like greedy folk, and I doubt that, even if they were, they would ever try to wage war against the other three kingdoms combined… Still… It wouldn’t hurt to enhance the shop—create a sort of fallout shelter just in case.

If he were to do that, then he’d be able to leave for extended periods of time without worrying about his people. It will make dungeon running with Alanah or farming Void Beasts with Avery much less stressful. The only thing that he could think of that would help even more than that would be a way to alert him if something happened, no matter how far away he was. He was, after all, only seconds away with his Void Travel skill at any time.

Derek shrugged as the door connecting Rudy’s contract shop to the hallway of the other shop closed behind him. He’d have to ask around about some kind of alert system, but he doubted it would be possible. If it were, Alanah would already have one.

With that thought, Derek entered the main floor of his shop, then decided to help out for a while. He hadn’t taken the time to see how his two employees ran things, and he didn’t have anything better to do for the time being. It was too late to leave Savannah and head to the capital to visit Thomas or Clare, but it was also too early to head to bed or have dinner. I bet Silvi wouldn’t mind making a second lunch, though, he thought with a grin.

So, like that, Derek lived out his dream of customer service. At first, the two kids, Dina and Lance, were extremely nervous with him ‘working’ alongside them, but after a while, and after learning that Derek had absolutely no clue what he was doing, they started acting normally around him. It helped that Derek asked a bunch of questions—even very stupid ones—and didn’t treat them like they were beneath him.

Finally, after a few hours of some of the most mentally draining and exhausting work he’d ever done, the two employees closed up the shop and left. He’d never been a huge people person, though he was getting more used to it, so dealing with strangers all day was very much out of his comfort zone. A century or two trapped in the void was more than worth not having to get a class requiring retail or customer service, he thought as he made sure the front door was locked.

Malorie had told him that the store had gotten popular, but he hadn’t realized how popular until now. Sure, it wasn’t as crowded as some of the other stores or places like the Crown, but the fact that so many people came to shop even though it was so far away from the center of the city, really showed that Brandi and Malorie were doing fantastic.

Once finished doing his best job impersonating a retail employee, which he found out was very much not for him, Derek finished the day like normal. That included dinner with everyone—even Brandi joined them again—then an early end to the night.

The next day, Derek decided it was time to head to the capital. With Brandi being as excited as she was to see him, he was beginning to feel bad about not visiting Thomas yet. So, after a nice breakfast prepared by Silvi, he headed out toward the Teleportation Building. Sure, he could have used Void Travel and appeared in the capital, close to the academy. From what he gathered, it wasn’t far from the palace, and he had the perfect spot in the center of the Throne Room to appear.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

However, if he didn’t need to use Void Travel, he wouldn’t. Even after all the experimenting, he didn’t trust his skill, and his ability to keep the items in his storage device from being affected enough to use it willy-nilly—especially when it was easy enough to travel between cities. What’s an extra couple hours here and there when you’re finally not in a rush?

So, with all that in mind, Derek entered the Teleportation Building and waited his turn. Soon enough, he found himself strolling down the capital streets just a little lighter in coin after paying the teleportation and entry fees. It feels good to actually have to pay for something for a change. It’s like I’m a regular person again.

Derek soon made his way past the capital’s Crown Restaurant. As he walked by, he thought about dropping in and seeing what Clare and the others were up to, but decided against it. Next, he walked by the palace. Originally, it had been quite the marvelous sight, but since, he’d seen other palaces, and he preferred the nature type palace that formed the one in Indria.

It is a whole hell of a lot better than that thing in Astru… Indaria, he thought as he walked by. Okay… this is all new territory for me now. Derek had never ventured past the palace before—he’d only really ever gotten a good glance at everything as they were taking off on wyvern back.

He didn’t have to wait long to find the academy—or at least the entrance to the academy. After passing the Royal Palace, he soon arrived at a wall within the city, with its own gate and everything. This must be it, Derek thought as he leisurely strolled forward before being met by two guards standing on either side of the gate. I expected there to be… more, he thought. Maybe some parents waiting outside or students coming and going. Not just… two guards.

As soon as he entered the guards’ sight, he saw them tracking him with their eyes. They stayed standing stock still, even as he approached. Soon, when he was close enough, one of them looked him up and down, then spoke.

“Halt.” The guard on the right put his arm up, palm facing out. Derek did as he was instructed and stopped walking. “What is your business at the academy?” the guard asked.

“I’m here to visit my…” Derek started. What is Thomas to me? Apprentice? No… he would be Shae’s apprentice. I’d say he was my friend… but that would feel weird. What about nephew… no… that’s not right… Oh, I know… he thought. “I’m here to visit my ward,” Derek said. That’s exactly who Thomas was. He was a person under his protection, and he had promised his grandparents that he would take care of him. So ‘ward’ was an apt description of what Thomas was to Derek.

“Your ward?” one of the guards asked. “Do you have your papers?”

“Papers?” Derek asked.

“Yes,” the guard said with a sigh. “Your visitation papers. Or any other documents allowing you entry into the academy.”

Now why didn’t I think of that? Derek thought. And how come nobody said anything to me about needing documents to enter? Have they even visited him here? Or do they just wait for him to visit them? Malorie had said that his grandparents, Delilah and Richard, had been to the capital to visit him, after all. Though, she did say that those arrangement were made by Alanah. I’m sure she went through all the proper channels for everything.

“Yeah…” Derek began. “I don’t exactly have any of that. You see, I just got back from running a long dungeon, then taking care of some wedding stuff, so I’m here to visit for the first time in about a year and a half.”

“If you don’t have the proper permissions, you can’t enter,” one of the guards said with a sigh. He seemed put out.

“And how do I get these ‘papers?’” Derek asked.

“You can either take your ward to one of the City Buildings and submit an application with them there, or you can send an application to the academy and it will be verified by your ward,” the guard explained.

“And those are the only ways?” Derek asked. He could always just use Void Travel and appear directly next to Thomas, but he didn’t want to give everyone in the academy a heart attack by doing so.

“I’m afraid so,” the guard said.

Well… I wanted to surprise him… but… oh well, Derek thought. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a blue communication crystal and began channeling his mana into it. He’d already bought and given each of his people at least a blue crystal that he received from Geoffrey back when he was contracted to build the Void Emporium.

“That’s…” the guard said, pulling Derek’s attention. “Probably not going to work.”

“And why is that?” Derek asked.

“Because the academy has runes preventing most communication crystals from working. You need specific runes to get through,” he explained. “Those are used by staff.”

“Dammit,” Derek said. Wait, maybe I can use the noble, ‘do you know who I am?’ line, and they will be forced to let me in. He seriously thought about doing that for a moment before deciding against it. No, I don’t want to cause too much of a commotion. I would hate to embarrass Thomas in front of any friends… or enemies that he’s made.

The biggest problem Derek was having at the moment was that almost everyone was still in Indaria. I’d prefer to contact Edgar or even Edwin, but I can’t… Maybe Natalie can help? He thought, but decided against bothering her for the time being. I guess it can’t be helped.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” Derek said to the guards with a sigh before leaving.

True to his word, Derek was back about half an hour later, and behind him was a very anxious Phillip Musgrave. He’d been left in charge while the royal family was at the wedding, so Derek figured he’d be able to help. The adviser was more than happy to drop everything he was doing and follow Derek. Derek had even gone through the front entrance to the palace this time instead of appearing out of nowhere, just to be respectful.

After a stern talking to and a light berating—which was stopped by Derek because the guards were just doing their jobs—Derek was allowed entrance to the academy. Phillip even gave Derek a special token to show if anyone questioned his entrance.

As the gate behind him shut, Derek turned around to Phillip and the two guards. “Thanks again!” he waved back. Once the gate shut, he turned back around and looked at the massive building in front of him. Time to find Thomas.