"I just finished hiring the people you wanted. As you instructed, I've already sent them to stake out the major markets and gatherings to look for anyone buying White Shadow Mushrooms… Lord Lynn."
Giggs spoke with deference.
Lynn's eyes flickered slightly. "Just call me 'boss,' Gigos."
In a world where power was everything, the idea of "everyone being equal" simply didn't exist. This was a place where the strong reigned supreme, where hierarchy was ingrained in the bones of people like Carter and Gigos.
"Yes, boss," Giggs nodded.
"Have you found anyone who used to work for Kersey?" Lynn asked again.
Though Kersey had always hidden his business well, Lynn was from Earth. Even with the few hints Kersey had let slip, he could deduce the entire White Shadow Mushroom business process with just a bit of reasoning.
It was nothing more than discovering a demand and supplying the product.
The key lay in finding the demand.
So, if he could locate the people who had worked for Kersey before, he could inherit those demands directly from them.
That was why Lynn had ordered Giggs to look into it from the start.
"Not yet, boss," Giggs shook his head, then added, "But the people we hired yesterday have already found our first demand for White Shadow Mushrooms at the Black Locust Market.
"The price is nine gold dragons per mushroom. Since they want large ones, that's only one gold dragon above the market price… I've already made one delivery and earned five gold dragons."
"Not bad, Giggs. Looks like you're already getting the hang of how this business works," Lynn nodded in satisfaction before asking,
"No trouble these past couple of days?"
"None," Giggs shook his head. "With you being a member of the Gold Shadow Society, no one foolish has dared cause problems."
The Society didn't forbid its members from running their businesses so long as they didn't claim it was the Society's business.
What Lynn was doing, openly stating that he was a Society member without tying his venture to the Society, was perfectly fine. Many other members did the same.
After a moment's thought, Lynn added, "Tomorrow, I'll take you to the Society to see if there's a suitable supernatural enhancement for you.
"Being a member of the Gold Shadow Society doesn't always get you out of trouble. Sooner or later, some idiot might come looking for it. You still need your extraordinary strength."
"Lynn… I…" Giggs's expression grew complicated.
Placing his right hand over his chest, he gave a deep bow, condensing all he wanted to say into a single sentence:
"Thank you, boss."
"No need to thank me. If you gain extraordinary power, you can handle small problems on your own, and that'll make my life easier," Lynn said.
Time was limited, and Lynn had every intention of being a hands-off boss. If Giggs could grow stronger, it would help him greatly.
By his estimation, once the White Shadow Mushroom business was fully up and running, even after giving Giggs his share, it should net Lynn at least ten primary-grade magic stones per month.
That was about the same as the average income for a third-tier member of the Society, and twice the five magic stones he'd earn each month as a magic array maintenance worker.
"Giggs, I've been thinking. Since you feel twenty percent profit is too much, and I think five percent is too little, let's meet in the middle. How about fifteen percent?"
Lynn had thought it over carefully before speaking.
Human nature couldn't always withstand temptation.
This business was important to him right now, but if he wanted to stay hands-off, he'd have to give up more profit to keep it running smoothly.
He had no interest in going through the tedious drama of betrayal.
From the beginning, he'd planned to give Giggs twenty percent, but the man had insisted on only taking five…
"That's too much, boss…" Giggs shook his head.
"You're running the whole operation, it's not too much. That's settled, then. Go get back to business, and tomorrow we'll look into your extraordinary enhancement.
"Of course, you'll be paying for it yourself. If you're short, I can lend you the money and deduct it from your wages."
Lynn didn't want to keep arguing, and with that final statement, he closed the matter for good.
After discussing a few more details of the business, he saw Giggs off.
Then, he threw himself into an intense study routine.
Thanks to his full-time, carefree lifestyle, where meals were prepared for him and all chores handled, there were no distractions. His focus was excellent, and his progress came quickly.
Two days later, on the morning he was scheduled to begin magic array maintenance work,
Small Wind Shield was officially at the beginner stage.
On the second floor of his home, Lynn stood on the balcony of his study, lips moving, fingers weaving intricate signs.
Moments later, a powerful whirlwind formed half a meter in front of him.
Whoosh, whoosh
The air swirled violently, stirring up light dust from the floor until the current took on a faint gray hue.
Lynn picked up a dry branch he had prepared earlier and experimentally thrust it toward the vortex.
Shhh!
A sudden force surged back at him. Even with his current strength and preparation, he couldn't maintain precision; the strike that was meant for the vortex's center was pulled sharply aside by the swirling air.
The branch snapped instantly under the wind's churn, fragments scattering across the balcony floor with sharp pops.
Yet, even after taking that strike, the vortex only seemed slightly weakened.
Thinking for a moment, Lynn grabbed another dry branch, this time channeling White Crow Sword Qi into it.
Bang, bang, bang
It was as if solid impacts rang out as the vortex and branch ground against one another.
Eventually, the whirlwind dissipated entirely, while the sword-qi-charged branch crumbled into fine powder. The aim had still been pulled off-center, and the killing power, like the vortex itself, had been worn away.
Lynn clapped his hands, satisfied with the result.
Strictly speaking, a thrust infused with White Crow Sword Qi was already on par with a solid Zero-Ring lower-grade spell. For a just-learned Small Wind Shield to hold up this well, there was clear room for the spell's strength to grow as his mastery improved.
After calling Carter to clean up the mess, Lynn wanted to push on and study his next spell, but it was already getting late.
He hurried through breakfast, climbed into his newly purchased private carriage, and headed toward the Greenvine Restaurant.
Time to get to work.
At the restaurant, he followed the Society's instructions, entering through the back door and showing his Society badge.
He passed through a narrow corridor, then through a doorway sealed by thick vines, and found himself in an underground space beneath the Greenvine Restaurant.
The space wasn't large, shaped like an oval. Countless vines hung from the ceiling, some tipped with warm yellow lights for illumination, others connected to a complex, elegant spherical device in the center.
That must be the array core…
Lynn exhaled, a faint thrill in his chest, and stepped onto a brown spiral staircase, its form as if grown naturally descending toward it.
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