Shopping with Auntie

In the living area sat Julius with Little Helena seated on his lap, her head rested on his hairy but well-defined chest, slumbering peacefully. At the same time, he idly listened to Ray, who was seated opposite of him, excitedly narrating to him updates about the settlements he ruled over.

In the past few months, the dominion of Solus grew tremendously, expanding to two towns after the mountain fortress was annexed. Benefitting from the fallout of the pirate raids on the coast, its population increased, almost doubling its size. Innovations brought by Linus also contributed to its overflowing coffers that expedited the settlements' development. Soon, it would not be appropriate to call Solus a backwater town, but more like a bustling city.

"Good job, Chief. We no longer have problems with the refugees. Thanks to the jobs brought by mining, bronzeware crafting, and the increasing sales of our products, almost all of them are currently employed." Ray reported to Julius with a smile plastered on his face.

"That's good, but I wished for more men available to work. We'll need more of them to rebuild Stoneaxe. I wish to add salt to our people's diets." Julius replied. "Don't worry Helena, we'll build your homes back." Julius caressed Helena's hair.

"Salt, I wish we had plenty of them. By the way Chief, although employment was no more an issue, the kids are. The refugee kids run amok, causing petty thievery and other sorts of trouble for our residents. Our people are losing patience. Should the residents lay their hands on the children, we might have a riot between them and the settlers on our hands." Ray reported, scratching his temple.

"Old Vincent must be stirring trouble for us again. That old man has many followers among the townsfolk, but he has a point. We must stop these brats from running rampant." Julius remarked. Twirling his beard, he continued, "Oh, when we're short of men too. Bother it! I would like to assign some brothers to patrol the town. The kids need some spanking. Spare the rod, spoil the child." Julius told Ray.

A little before Julius told Ray his proposed solution, Linus overheard parts of the conversation. He thought it would be a great opportunity to recruit the kids to learn letters and numbers. An educated populace would be a boon for his future projects.

Ding! [You have a new notification.]

[Quest: Build a School]

[A school is a place of learning and character development, but beyond that, it is a place that puts restraint on children's unruly behavior. Build a school and recruit the children to receive the reward.]

[Objective A: Build a school building]

[Objective B: Recruit children to school]

[Reward A: (Skill) Paper Manufacturing]

[Reward B: (Skill) Ink Manufacturing]

[Time Limit: None]

Seeing the notification, Linus was secretly delighted. Having paper will save them so much space in handling business records. Those wooden planks consume so much storage that his businesses would soon run out of space if he continued record keeping the same way.

Linus walked into the living area, interrupting the conversation between adults. "Pops, I heard the part on spanking. Sure, a little is okay, but I don't think you have to resort in wasting your men's precious time on that. I have a solution. But before that, I brought you a guest. Here's Nora." She asked for Nora to come.

Nora entered, her long shiny golden hair draped over her shoulders. Looking at Julius, her sapphire blue eyes shone. Although her skin still looked pristine, her pointy facial features and the absence of baby fats on her face tell much about her age, not exactly young, but not old.

Nora bowed and greeted. "Greetings Chief Julius of Solus, my name is Nora, daughter of the Shepherd clan. Due to my circumstances, I seek shelter and protection for the time being."

Julius replied, "Madam, it is my honor to host a member of the prestigious Shepherd clan. If you don't mind, let me apologize for the shabby accommodation that is our humble abode."

"Oh, Sister Nora! Is that you? It's been a long time." Lina jumped at Nora, giving her a tight hug.

Nora pushed her away. "Mind your manners, Lina. It's been a long time. Oh, I thought it was a mistake for you to marry a warrior from some backwater town. Solus isn't bad at all. I heard of your Julius' exploits from far away. Your Little Linus rescued me, and from what I saw, the rumors must be true."

Helena woke up from her slumber, rubbing her sleepy eyes she asked, "What's going on?"

"Helena, Linus, meet your aunty, Nora. She's my childhood friend from Nexus. Although not blood related, many people mistake us as sisters back in the day. Even now." Standing side to side, the explanation made more sense. They did look like sisters.

"You did marry to that Shepherd clan? Was it Hendrick or Reynold? Tell me, I need to know." Lina pestered Nora, her hands clasping with hers tightly.

"Childish. You never change, Lina. It's a long story. I'll tell you later, I need something from your husband." Nora turned to Julius. "Chief, I wish to acquire some bronzeware to take with me home. Also, I need a few warriors to escort me back."

"Sure, the madam can take bronzewares at a discounted price. You have Ray over there. He and a few of our brothers will take you home." Julius replied nonchalantly.

"Julius! Nora is now the daughter of the prestigious Shepherd clan. It would be an embarrassment for her to be escorted by lowly warriors alone. Julius, I wish for you to escort her to Nexus." Lina glared at Julius.

"But, I have important duties as…"

Before Julius was able to raise an objection, Lina interrupted him. "No buts! Only someone of your prestige can give her some dignity. It will look bad on you if you sent some lowly warrior to escort her home."

Ray raised his hand, saying "Don't worry chief. I'll stay here to help the Madam and the Young Master. The Young Master seems capable of handling the situation."

"Right, don't worry Pops. Something as trivial as handling our settlements' menial issues isn't a problem for me." Linus thumped his little chest. He turned to Nora and said, "Aunty, you can also have some of our porcelain as a present. I'll prepare some for you to give as gifts to your friends."

Julius' jaw dropped. "Brat! You're giving away something as precious as porcelain as a gift, have you gone mad?"

"Trust me, porcelain is a treasure befitting the members of the Shepherd clan." Linus rubbed his hands. He ran to the kitchen and back to get a sample of the precious porcelain. He handed Nora the porcelain cup.

Nora's eyes widened, carefully handling and inspecting the precious cup in her hand. "Nephew, your father is right. I can't accept something so precious without giving something in return."

"It's not free. It's advertising. If you gave those to your friends as a gift and told them to buy from Solus if they wanted more, we'll profit. Consider the porcelain articles as payment. You can come with us to the mountain settlement tomorrow to pick wares to your liking." Linus stood tall with eyes glittering.

"Is it me, or is your son something else? He schemes like the dirtiest of merchants would." Nora asked, her brows furrowed.

"Lord Enqui, the god of wisdom, has been kind to the child. We have no better explanation." Lina told Nora.

"Must be it." Nora nodded in agreement. "Alright, nephew. Take me to the mountains tomorrow. I'll have a look at your wares." Nora told Linus.

"Julius!" Lina glared at the man.

"Alright, honey! I'll escort the madam." the poor man wasn't left a choice in the matter.

After a night of wine and stories, Nora woke up early in the morning, excited of the journey up the mountain. She was escorted by the Stannous family, along with some warrior brothers to the mountain fortress. On the way, she saw people and carts of oxen lining up at the entrance, a scene she knew too well in her hometown, the City of Nexus.

Unsurprisingly, the chief as escort gave them instant access to the gate. Above the long steps, a pillar of white and black smoke rose to the sky, emanating from the town center. After a long hike, they made it up the town proper. The main attraction wasn't the source of the smoke, but the ginormous halls before it.

Linus pointed at the structures. "Auntie, the one on the right is the trade hall where transactions are settled, while the other is a warehouse. There are more warehouses here up the mountain and in there also in the Solus settlement. They house the wares for safekeeping and inventory." After a pause, he continued "Come Auntie, we'll go to the warehouse. You can choose to take home any of the porcelain wares there."

At the warehouse, Nora was everywhere. With the variety of porcelain available, she had trouble picking which ones she would take for herself and to give as gifts. After half a day, she chose a tea party set and a few plates for herself. For her friends, she picked a variety of cups to give as gifts.

Next, they moved to another section of the warehouse for bronzewares. Nora pointed at the articles, "Can I take these home with me?" her eyes glittered.

"Take anything you can pay for. All prices are cut in half for you, Auntie." Linus told her.

Nora shoved her face at Linus', her sapphire eyes glittered. "Nephew, please! Can't you give Auntie some for free?"

Linus pushed her face away. "Alright, Auntie. In Mom's behalf, you can take one of them away for free. You can settle the payment later."

"Stingy! Like father, like son." Nora remarked arms folded, making Lina laugh out loud.

At the Stannous residence, Nora ordered a few manservants to pack away her things in a wagon. She turned to the boy and expressed her thanks, "Linus my boy, I could never thank you enough. You satisfied my curiosity. I'll convince more nobles from Nexus to find you."

Smooch! She kissed him in the cheeks. Linus' face reddened.

"Nora! Don't tease the kid, alright?" Lina took Linus in her embrace, putting herself between the two. She glared daggers at Nora.

"Alright sister. I'm sorry, I don't mean it in a bad way. It's my way of saying thanks to my benefactor." Nora explained.

The next day, Nora, with the company of Julius and his men, went off their journey to Nexus.

***

With a knee bent, Crimson bowed, reporting "Our men didn't return, and upon checking, we found their corpses in the forest. They failed to take away the daughter of the Shepherd clan."

Priscilla tosses an earthen cup at his feet, shattering it into fragments. "Useless pieces of filth!" she screamed, wrinkles creased her face.

Crimson could only keep his head down seeing the mistress throw a fit.

Priscilla sighed, shrugging. "Well, there's nothing that can be done about that." Revealing a wicked grin, she went on, "There are more ways than one to cause trouble. We'll get Solus, soon enough. Hahahahaha!"

Her shrill laughter pierced the silence of the dead night.