Chapter 41 – Farewell

A mid-afternoon sun shone over a river. The wells and ripples on the surface of the flowing river gave it the look of sparkling amber.

To the west of the banks of this river was a dazzling city.

Also known as Two fang city.

The centre of this city had brick buildings lining both sides of the immensely wide roads. This was right. The city had completely replaced its wooden houses in the urban districts with splendid and tall 5- 6 storey buildings.

The shops that occupied the ground floor of these buildings all had glass windows and doors. Posters and signs littered the windows of these shops. Attracting the attention of the people passing by. Shopkeepers or employees could be seen calling people in or handing out flyers.

Of course, there were occasional shops that still used the wooden outlook. Especially apothecaries and the armoury stores. Their wares were not suitable to be placed in fancy shops without causing damage. They were not however completely devoid of changes as glass racks and showcases would display their finest wares inside the shops.

Other than the inner districts, the outer districts or the suburbs were the new expansions of the city.

Clusters of being constructed or constructed mansions of all different shapes and form's could be seen here. Along with the rapid development of the city a bunch of nouveau riche citizens had popped up. These mansions were just a by-product of these people's urge to flaunt their riches and their need for quieter housing. As a result, a colony of the mansion's sprouted around the city until they became a legitimate suburb for the city.

Further to the outskirts, wooden houses with fencing that covered long patches of land with domesticated monsters grazing and crops growing could be seen. The farmlands had been pushed outward to the outskirts of the city.

...…..

The Four Ways Melody lodge had not escaped the reconstruction of the town.

The Lodge looked the exact same as it did before. A ground floor establishment made completely of wood with that eastern style.

The changes that had occurred were the two new separate buildings of the same size as the main building that were interlinked by wooden walkways with the main building and the spacious yard that accommodated 3 new pond's that were scattered across the property.

The ponds had red arching bridges that went over them and native fishes that swam in its depths. One of the ponds that were right beside the main building had a pagoda in the centre of it, which the red bridge connected to.

The slanted ceramic roof tiles of the lodge now had golden dragon sculptures on its edges on each of the three buildings. The whole lodge now gave off an imperial and immortal vibe that hushed all onlookers into silence, amazement and respect.

What brought about this expansion?

The first person to attain 3 stars in their profession in the city was one of the girls of the lodge. Following her, Fen attained 3 stars in her tailor class as well.

After the first two made their breakthrough, one after another the girls of the lodge started becoming three-star professionals.

The education that Yuki provided to the girls was one that made them refined and quick-witted. The girls all came from impoverished backgrounds and ended up as slaves. Their drive to achieve something was a lot more tempered than any of the older people in the city.

It was only a matter of time before the girls outmatched other people.

When the first 3-star profession class appeared the town rejoiced. When the next few popped up the town went silent. When more came up the town was in awe and when the most recent few showed up the town was in reverence.

The thing that let the people of the city breath a sigh of relief was that Yuki did not hold onto the girls. As soon as a girl achieved 3-stars she would urge them to open their own store in the city.

The girls were very reluctant to do so. The first girl was so adamant to stay that it had taken Yuki 2 months to convince her.

The girl finally agreed on one condition. Yuki would have to be a part owner of the store. The girl took one copper from Yuki as a loan to legally bind her according to the rules of the city and made her a 45 per cent owner of the café she opened. The girl originally wanted to make Yuki a 60% owner but she ended up getting scolded by Yuki and gave up the idea.

From then on, it had become a custom for the girls to take 1 copper from Yuki and start a store to make her a part owner.

With the girls leaving, the lodge required new staff. The locals fell over themselves to enrol their daughters into the service of the lodge. Any girl that was employed by the lodge would be trained by 3-star professionals and a person who was able to produce these masters.

Yuki completely denied these applications and only employed girls she saved from slavery. With her influence, no one could complain. In fact, her influence was so high at this point that the elder's council that ruled over the city opened a completely new seat just for her and appointed her on it.

This was a seat that had no responsibility, only power. Yuki did not meddle in politics and never dabbled or interfered with the policy of the elders which let them breathe a sigh of relief. Yuki had taken only one action since she was appointed her seat and that was whitening out the grey area of the rules that allowed slavery to be legal in the city.

No one opposed this in the slightest. With slavery gone, she had lost her usual way of employment and this was only good news to the people of the city.

During the reconstruction of the city. The neighbouring buildings were demolished around the lodge and the locals readily offered the land to the lodge.

A bigger lodge meant more staff to manage it and to the joy of the locals, Yuki had actually recruited girls from the town when the lodge had been renovated and expanded.

Now the lodge was filled with new faces. Every now and then one or two of the senior girls would come to visit the lodge and provide training to the new girls.

After the passage of three years, 2 girls from the lodge who had opened their own stores had even reached 4 stars. One was a chef while the other was a musician.

This was all great news for the lodge but Adam who currently lay in bed in his room had sorrow and longing written all across his face as he recollected his memories.

His reason for being sad was very simple.

Fen was the second person to attain 3 stars in her profession class even though she was the last girl who picked her profession class from the first batch of girls. She was the youngest of the girls and showed the most potential.

Her skill in the craft of tailoring was tremendous and her passion for it was genuine. Once she picked up the class she grew with leaps and bounds. Within a year of the three year period that had passed, Fen had already reached the cusp of 4 stars. She was a prodigy of the craft and could no longer be contained by this small city.

Mrs Bren from the guild had personally arranged for Fen to travel to Soaring tides alliance to train under an acquaintance of hers.

Fen was obviously overjoyed by the offer but also regretful and she declined it immediately. This was an offer not many people got. She wanted it. She was enthralled into almost accepting it.

In that split second of thinking only one face kept popping into her head over and over. Adam.

If she took the offer she would have to leave the one person who was the root of this passion of hers.

'Who would wake up my young master and little sisters if I was gone.' This was all she said when she reported this back to Yuki. Leaving the usually composed woman flabbergasted.

She saw how deep Fen's devotion to her son was. How could she fault this girl?

Adam was different from his mother. He personally escorted Fen the next day to the guild and didn't leave till the girl agreed to accept Mrs Bren's offer.

When he had heard from her what she had done his reasoning broke. The first time that he had genuinely been infuriated enough to lose his reasoning was that day.

'What are you thinking? This is your life. How do you think it makes me feel when I am the chain that holds you down?' His words made the girl shudder.

She was not able to refute him in the slightest and had agreed to accept the offer.

On the day she left.

The whole lodge's initial batch of sisters had come to see her off.

Beside the caravan carriage that was parked on the road leading out of the city. In the centre of the group of sobbing girls, was a tear-filled Fen who had her arms around Adam's neck and hugged him with no intention of letting go.

She kept repeating one sentence: 'I don't want to go. I don't want to leave my little brother.'

Adam stood like a frigid statue with clear eyes that day. He let no emotion show. He gently pushed her away by the shoulders and separated. From his pockets, he pulled out two objects.

One was a small ivory hairpin with 2 bright and radiant gems that shone in the light. This was a pin handcrafted by him from the horn of a two-horned gale rabbit and was inlaid with two mid-grade storage gems. Expensive and exquisite were hardly enough to describe it. The pin had pairs of phoenix's dancing engraved around it. It was a work of art.

The second object was a chain that had an egg-shaped clear milky white jade pendant. This was a superstitious object said to bring good luck and protection from harm. His intentions were clear to everyone present there.

'Take it. This is all I can give you. I won't be able to protect you out there so stay safe. Go. The driver of the carriage is getting impatient.' Adam said. Yuki was quiet and cold just like Adam right now. The twins were bawling along with all the other girls present.

'young master has done so much for Fen. Young master, I will become the best tailor in the world. When I come back I will make you all the clothes you want. The best clothes in the world.' She took hold of the two items in his hand and proclaimed.

Adam could no longer maintain his cold character but still persisted and said: 'I will miss you. Don't make me wait too long or I'll come and find you.' His voice turned hoarse.

The tears in Fen's eyes overflowed. She jumped and embraced him again. This time even Adam was shivering. His shoulder had long since grown wet but his eyes maintained clarity with great difficulty. A limpid liquid threatening to overflow at any moment.

'Fen will be off now. Goodbye, little brother. Take good care of yourself.' These were the final words the girl said through her sobs as she turned around and jumped into the carriage.

...

'It has been almost 2 years since she left.' Adam thought to himself. He was clearly worried about her. She would often send back messages through letters to keep him up to date on her current status.

The last letter placed her in the Ignited Stone alliance where she was trying to gain entry to the city of Orgal of the dwarven volcanic plateau. She had already become a 5 star master of her trade. Her talent for tailoring was truly exceptional. This made Adam feel delighted as he was sure that the choice they had made was right.

She was aiming to get into the Dwarven Volcanic plateau because it was the home of the best weapon and armour crafters on the continent. It was a holy ground for someone who was a tailor like her who wanted to take a step further and learn enchanting.

All the major crafting professions would evolve into enchantment once they reached the level of a 5 start master. enchanting was the process of applying magic circles onto a piece of craftsmanship that would essentially act as the veins of said product and bring it to life. Giving it various different enhancing or diminishing qualities. Crafters were eccentric individuals who liked to experiment and create different magic circles.

Thus it was hard to judge a person once they crossed the 5-star threshold. They would all be called grandmaster's of enchanting but categorizing their level based off of their skill would be very difficult.

"Young master! One of the sisters brought a box back from the guild! She says it's a delivery from big sis Fen." Elaine's voice came from the yard.

Adam jolted up from his melancholy and walked out to the yard with hurried steps.