Chapter 224

Despite the suddenly looming deadline in the near future, Nick still had some things to take care of before he could actually leave.“I tried to get a quote from a construction company, but the costs of having their mages come here for a few weeks were frankly absurd, especially when you factor in the permanent protections I had in mind,” Eugene sighed.

Nick hummed. Usually, he would have offered his services by now as the foremost expert on magic in the family, but his earth magic skills were limited.

Sure, he was confident he could learn the spells in a relatively short time, and it might be a useful skillset for the future, but given his tight timeline for the next year, he couldn’t justify that kind of investment.

“I’m sure you could contract a merchant house to find some local mages to do the job,” he said instead.

Eugene nodded dejectedly, “I guess that will have to do. I might just have them do the bare minimum changes for now and revisit the issue once our coffers aren’t straining anymore.”

“The patrolling and hiring of adventurers to plug any gap in the north alone will take almost all of our current extra reserves,” Elena added, looking up from a stack of papers. “Our estimated tax income for this year will be quite generous, and as a new Barony engaged with the kingdom’s military, we have a three-year grace period to spend on essential infrastructure that won’t be counted for our royal tax. It might be smarter to take a loan from a bank to cover all our immediate spending, considering that our projected income should allow us to repay it without much trouble. The interest rate for noble clients is lower than for a knightly house, so we’d be essentially getting free money.”

Nick blinked in surprise, turning to look at his mother with a critical eye. He knew, of course, that she was handling Floria’s bureaucracy, but since it required so little daily managing, he hadn’t expected her to be so knowledgeable.

Seeing his look, Eugene chuckled, “You know, your mother is not just beautiful and strong. She’s the smartest person I know!”

Elena smiled smugly, “And don’t you forget it! Unfortunately for you, this won’t get you out of the paperwork I set aside on your desk, dear.”

Eugene dramatically slumped, coming very close to whining, “But I married you to get me out of this horrible punishment! You were so good at handling all the paperwork for our adventuring team.”

“Then you should have thought about it before deciding to become a Baron!” She replied, amused.

“It wasn’t my choice!” He sputtered.

Nick watched them banter back and forth for a while, relieved that despite the sudden changes, his parents still seemed as close as ever.

Before they could slip into more direct innuendos, he decided to step in. “If it makes financial sense to get a loan and hire a construction crew rather than wait for the taxes to come in, we should probably do that. How big are the renovations you have in mind anyway?”

“We aren’t exactly aiming to build a palace, but the Town Hall has some unused space behind it that we could convert into another wing for guests and events. The main chamber is large enough for most gatherings, but it feels somewhat disorganized. So, technically, the footprint wouldn’t increase, but we’d expand into part of the unused yard. After that, most of the work would involve renovating the structure, adding some decorations, and if possible, building a training area that can withstand your father’s attention. That, and a set of protective wards. The Hall already has some basic strengthening magic, but ideally, we’d like to make it into a refuge in case of attack,” Elena replied, flipping through the papers.

“Yes, here. Our cash reserves could cover the entire cost already, but I’ve set aside a thousand gold coins for military buildup, leaving only a few hundred not tied up in taxes or other projects like hiring more staff.”

Tapping his fingers on the sofa’s arm, Nick mulled that over. It was easy to lose track of finances with such huge sums involved, but their reserves were accumulated over many years. Spending everything all at once would be very foolish, especially since they had yet to see the benefits of their new rank.

Still, even though he couldn’t help with the construction, he had an idea that might stop the bleeding. “I can probably take care of that training area and set up basic defenses.”

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Elena raised an eyebrow in surprise, a look eerily similar to his own when he was calculating the consequences of an unexpected change. “Hmm, if you can do that, then we’d only need the mages to focus on the actual construction. Without needing to lay down wards, we could cut nearly half of their costs, considering the shorter timeline and less intensive work.”

Surprisingly, neither of his parents asked him if he was sure he could do it. Either they had seen enough of his abilities, or they trusted he wouldn’t lie about something this important. Nick couldn’t help but feel a little touched by their regard.

“Is there something you’d need to cast spells powerful enough? I don’t intend to go all out, but it would be nice to be able to train without the fear of burning Floria down. I’ve managed so far because our home is pretty far from the town, and I can keep the fires from spreading, but doing so here, where every building is so close together, would be much harder.” Eugene asked, looking out of the window.

The Town Hall was by far the largest building in Floria’s center and had plenty of space around it thanks to the main plaza. If it had been anyone else, Nick would dismiss their concerns, but since his father was a Prestige warrior, he knew that was an understatement if anything.

The kind of power Eugene could radiate, even when taking it easy, could overwhelm most wards in a short amount of time. Just thinking about how to keep such a magical construct protected from the consuming force of his flames was giving Nick headaches.

The other option was Fulu, the Taoist charms. With , he could likely set up a series of redundant wards that would work to filter any power that might escape the area, making it completely harmless by the time it reached the last layer, and thus allowing him to use it to fuel the script’s very essence.

That, unfortunately, would also take more time than he had. Less than the house blessing, but he’d still need many days, possibly weeks, to work out the exact scripts and the best interaction and filtering process.

More obscure rituals, like those from Maya temples, weren’t limited by the same time constraints, but Nick didn’t need to ask to know that requesting a hundred human sacrifices to power the wards wouldn’t be well received.

His parents grew increasingly concerned as he remained silent, but Nick didn’t dare stop himself. He felt like he was approaching a realization of some sort, and interrupting it now would leave him unsatisfied for days.

The spirit cat had definitely become strong enough to act as a living anchor for a particularly complex ritual.

Crassus’ Privilege was something he had only read about in connection with the more useful fertility rituals used in Ancient Rome, but it felt like, with some adjustments, he could transform the powerful magic designed to protect the wealthiest man in Rome from his cruel actions into a beautiful protective spell.

“I will need some silver, the ashes of a burned-down home, and to be left alone for at least three hours," he finally pronounced.

The Roman consul and triumvir was known for his underhanded tactic of setting fire to people’s homes and waiting with his firemen crews outside the flames for the poor sods to give in and sell him their property. If they did, he had his men put out the fires; if they didn’t, he let the houses burn.

It wasn’t the only way he accumulated wealth, as he also had a hand in every legal and not-so-legal trade in the Urbe, from slave trading to mining.

Of course, all those secret dealings had earned him the hatred of many, and so he secretly hired a vestal virgin, Licinia, for his protection.

The poor woman endured a lot of sorrow because of the man’s attention, but what Nick focused on was her use of spiritual essence to ensure the safety of Crassus’ properties.

That he could use. And with Talbot serving as the anchor, he wouldn’t even need to sacrifice slaves to power the magic, though they would have certainly made things easier.

To their credit, his parents didn’t even blink at the unusual request. “I think there might be some ingots of silver left in the vaults. Use as many as you need. As for the ashes, that will probably be a bit more difficult. With Sashara’s presence over the town, that’s not a problem we've ever had. We can probably find a few burnt-out huts or camps, if that still works. And I guess I can have the clerks leave a bit earlier in the evening, if that works with you,” Eugene rattled off.

Nick was about to emphasize the importance of the ashes before remembering he already had a source. When he’d first entered the temple of Eztie, he had grabbed a handful, just in case. Although he planned to use it for other projects, it wouldn’t be a big loss. In fact, given the magic woven into the structure that became the ashes, it might even work better.

“Scratch that, I can do without the ashes,” he said, “and yeah, have the clerks clear out earlier this evening and set aside seven ingots of silver.”

That said, Nick jumped up and turned to leave. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some preparations to see to. Remember, nobody should stay behind!”

Convincing Talbot to leave their farmhouse took longer than he expected. As a guardian spirit, he had grown attached to the place, and the idea of moving to the town center, where hundreds or even thousands of humans were constantly all around him, wasn’t exactly appealing.

Fortunately, Talbot was actually sworn to House Crowley, not just the physical building, and so explaining that whether he came or not, they would still move, was enough to convince him.

Nick still took the time to go on a little hunt with him, just to make sure there were no hard feelings.

“Meow!” Talbot complained as he tore into a spirit of envy, its bitter contents surprisingly to his taste.

“I know, but you’ll get used to it,” Nick promised, even as he crafted a prison of spiritual mana around a spirit of innocence lost.

It was fairly new, given how gaseous its form was, but he only needed it to mimic the presence of a vestal, so it didn’t matter how much power it could provide.

That done, he pulled himself and Talbot away from the astral plane and turned his focus toward Floria. Even from this distance, he could sense the people exiting the Town Hall, as promised.

Everything was set for him to work his magic, except for one small problem. The two spies who had been trying their best to eavesdrop on the beastmen negotiations were back in town, and they, too, seemed to have noticed the strange movements.

Nick would need to deal with them before he could perform any ritual.