A Bumper Harvest

Winters in the North were still just as long. The beast tide had made little impact on Seventon; it hadn't even left a mark on the city walls.

Not only had they been prepared well in advance, but the City Guard had also been replaced. The beast tide had been routed more than twenty miles from Seventon, before the Shamsuddin Legion, lying in wait, swept in and claimed the spoils.

The sudden turn of events left Nether's upper ranks completely dumbfounded...

The original plan had been to defend behind Seventon's massive walls, with the various houses pitching in a few men to help out so they could divide the spoils afterward.

But Hussein didn't play fair. He launched a surprise attack and broke with the plan, taking the whole pot and everything in it. The others weren't having it.

All winter, they'd traded barbs. Hussein and the Shamsuddin Legion became hot topics in Seventon, cropping up at practically every meeting, big or small.

For a while, Hussein became the common target of Seventon's upper ranks. Even Lord Concinnio joked, "It's been years since I've seen everyone agree so completely."

In the end, whether Hussein couldn't take the pressure or had a change of heart, he gave up some of the spoils.

As the various factions jostled over their share, the windfall landed in Lehman Trading Company's lap.

Borne hadn't expected to get a slice of the pie himself.

According to the Shamsuddin Legion, Lehman Trading Company was a supplier to the legion, and the healing potions it provided had played a "crucial" role in the fighting. The legion also still owed them the final payment, and had no money to pay it, so they'd use the spoils to settle the debt.

Naturally, other trading companies that had extended credit or worked with Shamsuddin were on the list too.

The other companies were furious, but even the people behind them couldn't do a thing about Hussein. Lord Concinnio approved of the arrangement as well.

Well, there was no reason to turn down a windfall, right?

When Lehman brought over the list, Borne gained a whole new understanding of the legion commander who had made such a name for himself in Seventon.

112 Stone Terror Beast hides.

57 Owlbear pelts, 173 bear paws.

Treant heartwood xxx

Ankheg teeth xxx

"What the hell? He turned the legion into a slaughterhouse! A supplier's become a buyer..."

Even Borne couldn't help admiring the audacious move. He almost felt a kindred spirit in the man.

Still, the commander had some scruples. He'd priced everything at around half the market rate; otherwise, he'd have alienated every supplier.

"Let's take a little of this and that, just enough for our own needs. Convert the rest into monster blood. Ordinary blood will do if they don't have any."

Borne picked up the list and made his selections in a few quick strokes. Lehman took it from him, puzzled by the choices. They were far from what he'd expected.

"Boss, won't it be a waste to choose these...?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself. First, get our medicinal ingredients business stable. Working with the military is just about surviving. No business is easy. If we haven't even secured our core business and we start meddling in other industries, we won't know what killed us."

Borne spoke calmly, but Lehman felt as if he'd suddenly woken from a dream. Cold sweat broke out all over him.

"Of course... It's good to have ambition. Hold on to that drive!" Borne patted Lehman on the shoulder. "By the way, you're in your fifth year now, right?"

"Hm? Yes, Boss. I'll be moving up to fifth year once the term starts."

"Still a lower-tier caster?"

"Yes, still lower-tier..." Lehman lowered his head a little.

Borne fell silent, deep in thought.

Graduating from the academy no longer meant going straight into the legion. Four or five years ago, graduates had begun joining the City Guard, government offices, and other departments, and their share had grown each year.

The military's income had been shrinking, too. As the continent gradually settled down and order returned, the legion could no longer use scavenging as an excuse to shake people down.

Nether had once relied on the legion to support it. Now it had to funnel resources back into the legion, which had left some people disgruntled.

Calls to cut the military had grown louder year after year. Even with Lord Concinnio constantly holding them back, the number of academy graduates assigned to the legion kept dwindling.

Concinnio knew that maintaining such a massive legion took a great deal of money and resources.

But they had no choice but to keep it going. Without the legion's deterrent, their occupied lands would soon slip away. They couldn't just avoid cutting troops; they had to expand the army.

The beast tide reaching Seventon had made it clear that the current legion wasn't enough to defend Nether's territory.

That made the origins of this beast tide all the more intriguing...

But that wasn't what Borne needed to worry about right now.

He was more concerned with getting Lehman to the middle tier before he graduated.

That way, Lehman wouldn't be forcibly assigned to the legion. Once he stayed in Seventon, the influence of Ioulaum House would make it easier to arrange things down the line.

After giving Lehman a few more instructions, Borne sent him off, then picked up a quill and parchment to start making plans.

As his right-hand man, Lehman was meant to be a capable manager, but he couldn't be too weak, either.

As for how to advance his tier, the answer was magic experiments. Learning spells from the next tier could push him forward; otherwise, if he relied on meditation alone to build up his magical power, it would take seven or eight years.

The current system of magic was still nowhere near as complete as it would be later, and spell experiments carried some risks. Besides, Lehman didn't need to learn powerful offensive spells for his role.

Hypnosis, illusions, and other spells in that vein suited him well. The psychic school had a whole series of advancement spells, too, and greater mental strength would help guard against prying eyes.

Most importantly, Borne knew this stuff inside out!

Borne had already mastered fourth-circle magic and advanced to the middle tier, but he hadn't made it public.

After all, becoming an Arcanist before even enrolling in the academy, then advancing to the middle tier in less than half a year, might have been fairly commonplace in Nether's later years.

But now...

He was known as a "genius," but he still worried that some madman might come after him.

Borne wasn't being paranoid. Some spellcasters were exposed to foreign magical forces for so long that they became downright neurotic...

Late winter.

The new term began. Though the weather was still bitterly cold and the snow lay deep, nothing could dampen the new students' enthusiasm.

The lower-year students all wore the same clothes, but the newcomers were like blank slates, curious about everything at the academy.

As a transfer student, Borne had wanted to see what a new-student ceremony looked like at an academy in another world. He hadn't expected it to be much the same as back home.

They toured the academy grounds, listened to the dean's speech, then got a big bowl of motivational fluff. The new students were fired up in no time.

Borne, by contrast, was rather unimpressed. Lehman watched with great interest; as a student about to graduate, he seemed to see his younger self in the crowd.

"Come on, let's go..."

Borne dragged Lehman away with an exasperated look.

"Uh... all right." Lehman looked a little helpless. "What about the welcome party tonight? I wonder what new tricks the Arcane Society will come up with this year."

Giles Academy had no student council, only the Arcane Society. Its nature was much the same, but its authority and responsibilities were even greater. It even had its own Enforcement Squad!

The Arcane Society's president was usually the top graduate of their year. After all, without strength to back them up, how could they expect anyone to obey?

"Go if you want. I'm not going."

They were there to establish their authority and recruit followers. What would he go for? To get in their way?

With that, he turned and walked out.

Creak, creak...

The two of them walked single file along a path on the academy grounds, the snow nearly covering their ankles.

"...Wait, something's off!"

After they'd gone a little way, Lehman sensed that something wasn't right.

They'd taken this path to avoid drawing attention. It was secluded, but not deserted—just quieter than most. Yet whether people were coming toward them or walking alongside them, they all instinctively steered clear.

Only then did Lehman catch on. He stopped in his tracks and stared at Borne, who was walking ahead of him, stunned.

The new students might not recognize Borne, but hardly any of the returning students, junior or senior, failed to know him.

Ever since Borne had claimed the title of first-year champion in the last competition, even intimidating the upper-years into "daring not" to challenge him, he'd stunned everyone present.

Of course, after the competition, some upper-years had spoken up.

Quite a few of the top students in the fourth and fifth years had mastered arcana, they said. The president of the Arcane Society had even mastered more than one arcane spell. They hadn't refused to compete because they were afraid, but because they didn't want to bully a newcomer.

They also said that as the new student champion and a spellcaster who had mastered arcana, Borne was qualified to join the Arcane Society early...

Lehman had no idea what Borne had done afterward. Even if he'd known, Lehman figured Borne wouldn't have cared.

Borne might not have cared, but others certainly did. Every day, plenty of people sought him out, with the children of noble families finding all sorts of ways to get close to him.

Borne had been fed up with it. That was why he'd moved to Coastal Cliff Cave.

But from morning until now, no one had come over to strike up a conversation. They hadn't even looked his way for more than a moment. It was as if Borne were just some nobody.

That was clearly abnormal...

"When did you do it? There wasn't the slightest trace of a spell..."

Borne had been admiring the scenery along the way. He seemed to notice Lehman's gaze and turned with a smile.

"You've been slacking lately. You're only realizing it now?"

"Yes, Boss. You're right..."

Lehman scratched his head sheepishly.

"What happened to your hand?"

"Uh... it's nothing. I hurt it during a spell duel. It'll be fine in a couple of days."

"Hm?"

Borne raised an eyebrow, then smiled. "Thanks for the effort. I appreciate it."

Lehman was at a loss. He was just about to ask what Borne meant when Borne turned and continued walking.