Chapter 39 | Hi There, Aiden

”Sir mage, please raise this wall slightly,” The architect asked. He was initially skeptical of making a mage of the gray tower build walls, but seeing Theo’s no-nonsense attitude and willingness to help in order to finish the house faster, he had stopped holding back.

Theo nodded and placed his hand on the already raised stone wall. He adjusted the spell formula according to the height provided and raised the wall ever so slightly.

“How is this?”

“Perfect, Sir Mage. Normally, such mismatch would have either been ignored, or if it was deemed important, the construction would be delayed a couple more days.”

“Great. We want this place done as quickly as possible. Do you have an estimation?”

“I say, about three days if we keep going like this. But now that the foundation is complete, you could leave the rest to us and there wouldn’t be much delay. I say, about seven days.”

Theo nodded. After exchanging several more words with the builders, he left for his next destination.

Walking the streets of the village was a weird experience now. People threw glances his way whenever he passed. Mostly full of confusion, if not reverence. He felt the robe weigh on his shoulders a bit more than before. He didn’t know if he liked the feeling, but he had to do it nonetheless.

Sure, it did raise some questions why he hadn’t been wearing his robes before, but it would be better to settle into his role and accumulate reputation as a mage rather than as a weird alchemist.

Seven days to build the house. That’s better than I thought. Hopefully, it will be worth the 50 golds. Damn, this is exciting.

Being a NEET, those 500 golds were the first time he had made money by himself. And the thought of seeing his efforts’ come to fruition excited him. Hopefully, he would be able to push through this bandittide and get to enjoy it.

[The Bandittide (Major)]

[Time left: 0:22:01:29:13]

A week had already passed without him participating in the quest at all. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like his participation rate could fall. It had stayed at a stable 1%.

The southern lands were, as expected, falling into chaos. Many seemingly unrelated gangs of bandits had launched simultaneous attacks at different settlements, ranging from small villages to mid-sized towns.

Although the uninformed could think it was a coincidence, it was obvious from the chosen targets that it was a sweeping attack. They had started by attacking the easternmost part of the Southern plains, about a hundred kilometers away from the Sentinel’s Gate, which guarded the entrance of Grimfang Plateau. Slowly, they would head west and take down the entire South. And eventually, one day, this village would become a target too.

On the other hand, according to Satou’s intel lines, the bandits weren’t acting like bandits. They were lenient towards civilians, at least much more than your average bandit. That entailed not raiding people’s homes and kidnapping their children. Instead, they extorted them out of their money and utilized legal loopholes in the Imperial Law to practically swindle them.

This confirmed Satou’s guesses about the situation. The Emperor was turning a blind eye to their actions, as long as they didn’t severely harm the civilians or the supply lines. This wasn’t an incursion against authority, but a simple switch in who held it. If the bandits managed, he didn’t care. If they didn’t, he would be rid of this ragtag bunch of people without having to lift a finger.

Only the southern kingdoms, including Vandreth, would be impacted.

Theo sighed and knocked on Mr. Filip’s door. The man came out looking disheveled as always. No matter Theo’s strange alchemy, he had a job he was supposed to keep doing. Without him, this village would be left without any potions, ointments, and a range of chemical and herbal substances. And as far as Theo was aware, he didn’t have an heir to take his place.

“What is it?” The man asked with a grumpy voice. After getting used to Theo’s antics, he had gone back to his initial, prickly attitude. “Are you finally back to work? Was it fun lazing around?”

“Umm… About that, actually,” Theo smiled apologetically. “I am quitting.”

“…Figures,” Mr. Filip sighed. He took off his glasses and wiped them with a clean cloth he took out from his chest pocket. “I guess working alongside an old man like me is too much for a pompous genius brat like you.”

“No, no,” Theo raised his hands, trying to calm the man down. “I don’t think I’m going to be staying in this village for long, so–”

“Of course you won’t, little bastard. What does a guy like you want in this godforsaken place? Off you go. Don’t let me see you again before becoming famous,” the old man flicked Theo’s forehead. “I will beat you up if you come back before I hear at least five different rumors about you.”

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“Damn…” Theo felt a little emotional. A wry smile on his face, he raised his hand. The man was about to grab it for a handshake, but his hand was left awkwardly hanging in the air.

Instead, Theo pointed forward. “Can I get my potions? I worked hard on them. You are not thinking I forgot them, right?”

Mr. Filip’s mouth opened and closed a few times. He was about to say something, but stopped himself and growled. He gritted his teeth and turned around. He tipped over the several barrels Theo had prepared and pushed them to the door.

“This is all. I knew you were a greedy bastard from the day I saw you,” the man said. Theo answered with a chuckle. He wasn’t good with goodbyes, and neither was the man.

“See you later, old man. I’m taking my leave. I will try to visit whenever I can.”

“Go go. Don’t disturb me,” he shooed Theo away.

After loading the barrels onto it, Theo left the man a gold for the cart. Although he wasn’t leaving the village permanently just yet, he wouldn’t be spending much time there. Especially the rest of the week would be really busy.

Pulling the cart across the village, Theo headed for the Eastern exit where Satou was waiting for him.

On the way, however, Theo found his path to be blocked by someone.

“Hm?” Theo lifted a brow and raised his head, finding himself face to fa- well, face to chest with a young man.