Chapter 4366: Future Trouble (Part 2)

"Can I? Please?" The academy had turned from a place Fenrir wanted to go to a prison her parents could dump her into to get rid of her for five years.

"Of course, you can, baby girl. Just be careful up there. You too, Bash." Selia was glad that her daughter had lost most of her defiant attitude, but, at the same time, seeing her so scared pained Selia’s heart.

"I’ve done this countless times with my siblings, and none of them ever got hurt even though they couldn’t fly on their own, yet." The Cron replied, and Fenrir had her small, fiery wings appear from her back.

She used them to float, showing her mother that she didn’t need magic, which she had, to protect herself in case she fell off Bash’s back.

"Be careful anyway, okay?" The little girl and her steed nodded in reply before bolting toward the sky.

The huntress heard Fenrir laugh and cry with joy, feeling a burden come off her chest.

"Well, how was Lutia?" Lith asked, pretending not to have spectated the whole thing from start to finish.

Aside from the conversation between Vexal and Zekell at the Drinking Wolf tavern, he hadn’t missed a word.

Selia didn’t hide anything from their friends. Her story angered Rena, Senton, Elina, and Raaz the most.

Not only were they grateful to the Fastarrow kids for saving their children, but they were also afraid the Lutian might treat their little ones the same way if they awakened their bloodlines too soon.

"I swear to the gods, if those people so much as say something mean to Val, Ely, or Ral..." Kamila snarled, needing sheer willpower to stop herself from going into a graphic description of the consequences.

"The gods themselves would come down and do much worse than any of us can." Lith shrugged. "You don’t want to anger a papa Dragon or a mama Phoenix. Ask Mom."

"Lith is right." Elina shuddered at the memory of her Awakened kidnappers trying to harm Shargein. "I’m sorry, Kami, but it’s Surin I’m worried about. No one will run to her rescue if something happens to her again."

Jirni said nothing as she played with Orikan and Jirya. She jotted down new laws concerning the protection of hybrid children for the Ernas Region and handed them to Orion for a double-check.

"Seems good to me." He nodded. "I’ll have Marth submit them to the Royal Court at the next hearing. He’ll be as passionate about it as we are."

’In his case, however, we should write laws to protect the five races from Manohar the Second.’ Orion actually thought.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. The children played all day, the parents rested, and Lith made his preparations.

He waited until sunrise to make his next move. Lith went to Lutia under the pretext of inspecting Raaz’s fields and cattle, and performing the regular check-ups on the farmhands and their families.

Healer assistance was one of the benefits of working for the Verhens, and with winter about to end, Lith made sure everyone was in perfect shape for the coming spring.

The children would need their full strength to play all day and their parents to perform their tasks without worries.

After he was done with that, Lith took a "spontaneous" walk to Lutia to reserve the tables for a family dinner at the Drinking Wolf tavern.

"Now that my little imp is born, I have a lot of catching up to do with your beers, Oshek." Lith said. "I can finally drink to my heart’s content, so I hope you have prepared enough for everyone."

"I doubt that, but I did everything I could." Oshek could barely contain the joy at the honor of having the entire Verhen family at his establishment and the prospect of making that much money in a single evening.

"Buying the ingredients for my brewery in bulk from your father helps, but there’s only so many kegs I can prepare without it affecting the quality of my product."

"I’ll trust you on that." Lith nodded. "About the menu..."

"Don’t worry, we’ve received enough feedback on our food to learn our lesson." Hida said. "We’ve hired a great cook that will make up for our culinary skills, and maybe we’ll learn a thing or two from him."

"I was about to suggest just that." Lith scratched his head in embarrassment. "I’m sorry for being rude, but Oshek’s amazing beers deserve to be accompanied with delicious food to make the experience unforgettable."

"We are the ones who should apologize, Magus Verhen." The couple bowed deeply. "You’ve blessed us with your regular patronage, and we’ve served you mediocre food."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Lith gestured for them to stand straight. "You came here with nothing and did the best you could. I didn’t mention the issue before because it would have been insensitive to suggest you spend money you didn’t have."

He let them take promotional pictures with him for the tavern and promised they would be able to take more with the other members of his family.

’I always pay my debts.’ Lith thought. ’Kindness begets kindness, while grudges beget the beating of a lifetime.’

He went to Vexal’s bakery next to buy the bread for the next few days and put the baker’s word to the test. Vexal personally served Lith and gave him a full report of the events of the previous day.

He omitted nothing, giving him the names of the Lutians Lith knew, a description of those he didn’t, and a list of the establishments who had refused service to the Fastarrows.

The clients of the bakery studied Lith’s expression, hoping to be in for some juicy gossip, but he just frowned from time to time.

"Thanks, Vexal." He said. "I had no idea such a thing happened during my absence. I need to come here more often. For Lutia and your bread."

The baker was still puffing his chest out with pride when Lith walked through the door without saying a word. He stopped before the store’s wooden sign that claimed Vexal’s was Lutia’s first bakery and the Verhens’ favorite.

Lith took out Forgemastery ink and a few common ingredients out of his pocket dimension, using them to conjure a minor enchantment. He spoke the magic words and traced the hand signs to give more weight to the act.

Once he was done, the wooden sign shone like a neon sign, and a thin barrier would protect it from bad weather and intentional blows. Most important of all, Lith’s full signature was now engraved in the bottom right corner.

Each letter was pristine white and framed by golden edges, matching his Supreme Mage robe. It was the same he used for Zekell’s more valuable products, which made them recognizable and impossible to counterfeit.

Vexal lost quite a few clients that day, but when the picture of the wooden insignia spread throughout the Kingdom via the Web of Knowledge, anyone who could afford the Warp Gate fare came to Lutia just to buy his bread.

***

Jiera continent, ruined city of Tle’ket, a few hours earlier.

Jorl and the other members of his unit returned to Orpal’s headquarters separately at different times, giving the impression they had gone out on their own business and had no connection with the others.

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