CHAPTER 372: GOING TO FOURTH RING

Orion stepped out of the academy’s library with a faint, satisfied smile. The three memory crystals were placed inside his inventory, and he planned to use them once he get back home.

Feeling the crisp morning air of the Thunderpeak Royal Academy, he made his way towards the exit. Passing through the huge academy gate, he soon spotted the location of his luxurious obsidian carriage.

Lucan looked curiously towards him and raised an eyebrow and asked with a playful tone, "Did you went for a quickie Young Master? Why back so soon?"

Orion’s lips twitched hearing his words as he looked at him, "You...sigh. Anyways, I got what I needed from the academy."

Edgar lightly slapped Lucan’s back of the head before calmly asking Orion, "Then should we head back, Young Master?"

Looking towards the outer rings, Orion shook his head, "No, let’s go to the Limitless Heaven. I feel like its been years since I last met with Magi."

While rubbing the back of his head, Lucan said, "Years? Its not even been a week though."

Orion lightly smiled and boarded the carriage before Edgar and Lucan looked at each other before getting to their respective spots.

The carriage rolled smoothly through the capital, wheels humming softly over the cobbled streets as it headed for the fourth ring.

After reaching the fourth ring, Orion once again see the increase in numbers of passersby as well as merchants and adventurers.

The carriage continued travelling before soon ariving outside the shopping district. Orion descended and headed straight for the Limitless Heaven with Eldric on his side.

Soon, he reached the three story building where the guards greeted him respectfully, he nodded back at them before entering the establishment.

He directly ascended to the third floor with Edgar where Magi usually stays. The air here carried a faint fragrance of polished wood and aged wine.

At the center, Magi sat at his lavish desk, a half-finished mug of beer in one hand and a relaxed smile on his face. Perched comfortably on his shoulder was Luna, the white rabbit, whose twitching nose betrayed mild curiosity at Orion’s arrival.

"Magi," Orion greeted with an amused grin, "will you ever stop drinking or not?"

Magi chuckled, standing to greet him and placing the bottle back on the table with care. "Boss, it’s rare for me to relax like this. The business is finally running smooth enough that I have the luxury to sit idle and drink for once."

Orion returned the smile, stepping closer. "Then how’s the business going?"

With a wry tilt of his lips, Magi shrugged. "What changes could there be in such a short time?"

Orion laughed softly, scratching his chin. "Ah, right. I keep forgetting, it hasn’t even been a week. Guess you won’t have any money for me, then."

Magi’s lips twitched in mock irritation. "Why do you always come to empty my coffers? And this time, you didn’t even wait a few days." Luna gave a faint flick of her ears as if echoing the sentiment.

Orion lightly laughed, a playful gleam flickering in his eyes as he looked at Magi’s mock irritation. "Money generates money, Magi. Didn’t I give you a mountain of goods precisely for that?"

Magi dragged a palm down his face, Luna mirroring the motion with a slow ear-swipe. "Boss, I know the proverb. But first I have to sell the mountain. Mountains don’t move themselves, unless they explode, and even the nobles take their time contemplating their purchases."

He tipped the mug, grimaced, then set it down with a clink. "Inventory’s deep. Wallet, not so much."

Edgar folded his arms, gaze flicking over ledgers stacked like bricks along the far shelf. "Margins look healthy from here," he observed. "But your throughput is strangled by floor space and staff. You need more counters, more hands, and faster distribution of goods."

Orion nodded. "Then expand. We’ve proven the brand, Limitless Heaven draws nobles and madmen like bees to a peach blossom."

He pointed down through the floorboards as if he could see the bustling district below. "Since we’ve covered the major trade cities, Silverfall, Emberlyn, Blackrock, next step is breadth. I want a Heaven in every city of the kingdom. No more ’prestige-only’ presence."

Magi’s brows inched up. Luna’s nose twitched. "All... cities?" He leaned back, eyes sliding to the wall map ringed with colored pins. "That’s supply lines, permits, tenant guilds, bribe—I mean, hasten the work fees, recruitment, training."

"Security," Edgar added. "Two detachments per branch minimum and hire guards from mercenary guild. Rotate veterans of our House to seed discipline among them."

"Brand uniformity," Orion went on. "Same dark-wood façades, carved sign boards, attendants who actually smile like they mean it even to the poor. First floor stays approachable, trinkets, potions, common reagents."

"Second floor for the real buyers. And improve the third floor, make a few seperate rooms here for private deal and improve your office. There should be a hall in the center of the third floor with some of our best treasures on discplay." He smirked. "And yes, three ridiculous treasures on the ground level as bait. People climb to look, and they buy on the way down."

Magi couldn’t help a laugh at that. "It works indecently well." He pushed a ledger aside and pulled another, the page already cluttered with scribbles. "We’ll need a training syllabus. Cash handling, valuation, basic appraisal, polite ways to say no to High ranking nobles with unpaid tabs."

"Draft it," Orion said. "And recruit a Wood element appraiser if you can sniff one out. I’m upping our purchasing light mithril, lustrum salts, consecrated parchment, anything aligned to purification. Demands will spike, and I’d rather be the spike."

Magi’s eyes sharpened. "Due to the war with the demons? Nobles have yet to start purchasing such things in bulk. Some are probably not informed while others don’t want to create panic among the masses."

"Exactly, and we are some of the few people who can buy such stuff in bulk and silently," Orion replied, his lips curling into a slight smile. "Put a discreet bounty on rare light-attuned materials. Nothing splashy."

Edgar cleared his throat. "Transport?"

"Contract caravans for the safe lanes," Orion said. "For the rough ones, well you will figure something out. Keep manifests split. No single wagon should ever be worth a raid."

Magi whistled, already writing. Luna hopped down to his desk and plopped herself on the ledger as if stamping approval. "Fine. We pilot five towns within the fortnight. If the numbers sing, we roll to fifteen in a couple weeks."

He looked up, a glint of challenge in his eye. "But I’m tapping the profits to fund growth. No bleeding me dry for your ’protection fees’ until the branches breathe."

Orion grinned, shameless. "We’ll see."

Magi pinched the bridge of his nose. "Boss."

"Alright, alright," Orion relented, amusement warming his tone. "I’ll only take... a symbolic gesture."

"That’s worse," Magi muttered, but his mouth was betraying him with a smile. "You and your symbolism."

Edgar’s lips twitched. "Consider making the gesture a ribbon-cutting instead of a coin-cutting."

"That’s unnecessary, coin cutting is an art, don’t worry about it," Orion said playfully.