Billy Visits

Arthur hears three knocks from the door as he extinguishes the fireball he has casted. "Come in."

When the door has opened, Kuri enters the office, bringing Arthur a message. "There is a magician looking for you, City Lord."

"Tell him to come in." Kuri nods to the order she received from Arthur.

It must be Billy. Though, Arthur is not sure as to what his purpose in visiting him. After all, it is him who has been thinking of how to recruit Billy.

The door opens once more as Arthur sees a familiar face. His guess is right. Billy has indeed come here to visit him.

"Good morning, City Lord." Billy bows respectfully to Arthur.

"Good morning, Billy. What can I do for you?" Arthur sits down on his office chair.

"Well, I want to thank you for saving me last night and if it's possible..." Billy is thinking hard whether to say it or not but he remembers that Arthur is not like other nobles. "If it's possible for me to work for you."

Billy has been thinking about this since last night. He is no longer in a party with those adventurers he once knew. He is also an orphan so there is no reason for him to go back to that city.

Arthur replies. "But there is no Adventurer's Guild here. What are you applying for?"

It seems like Billy hasn't thought of it this far. He only wants to work with him to have a living and he knows going back to that city will only cause him trouble.

There has been a few moments of silence. Arthur looks at Billy as he tries to identify his rank. "What is your rank as a magician?"

"Third stage, Master Mage." Billy replies softly.

A magician's rank is divided to five stages. Once he has completed five stages, he can ascend the next rank. As the rank gets higher, it is more difficult to ascend stages. This is decided based on how effective one's core is in purifying mana.

Looking at Billy, he is still young and probably not more than thirty years old. He has the talent to become a Grandmaster. That is already rare to find in small kingdoms. Even the Kingdom of Windshire only has five magicians with a Grandmaster rank.

"You are pretty talented. Can you teach others how to use magic?" Arthur plans on building an academy for magic. It will be great if Billy has vast amount of knowledge with it and can at least train a few full-fledged magicians.

"I can as I have been practicing magic since I was ten years old." Billy answers honestly. He believes that Arthur wants to learn magic but to his surprise, this is not the case.

"I want to create an academy for the city. Do you think you can handle this responsibility?" Arthur stares at him, watching every behavior and answers of Billy.

Billy is shocked. Most kingdoms don't have an academy for mages and for those that do have, one needs to be a Grandmaster to teach in this prestigious school. To be a pioneer for this academy will be a great honor for him. However, he feels that he may lack the necessary knowledge.

"It is an honor, City Lord. However, I don't think I am worthy." Billy replies dejectedly.

"I am not asking whether you are worthy or not. I am asking if you can handle the responsibility." Arthur's voice is soft and soothing that it can make anyone feel safe to dream and hope for things.

"I will do my best." Billy's lips curl up into a smile as he realizes that Arthur isn't really like other nobles.

Arthur then promises Billy that he will take care of the facility after the City Wall has been built. There is one task he has given Billy so that he can help arrange the necessary things. He wants Billy to get as much magical contract as possible.

The price for a magical contract varies but on average, it can cost one gold coin each. This is expensive but this is a special contract that the mana in the air recognizes. Whatever consequences are written in the contract, it will be embedded as destructive magic spells on other people.

This is the measure Arthur wants to place on Billy and the entire Magic Academy he wants to build. Whenever the contract sees the intent to breach the terms, the consequences will soon be in effect.

Billy knows that this is a standard measure to students of Magical Academy for magic spells that are specially owned by the Academy. Even families of magician have secret magic spell that is only passed down to their children.

Billy isn't particularly poor but when Arthur has given him five hundred gold coins, he is surprised. He can see that the City is not particularly rich. Perhaps Arthur is a child of a duke or a marquis. Though, he doesn't really mind whoever Arthur is.

After Billy and Arthur have discussed the terms as well as the procedures to establish the Magic Academy, Billy leaves the office to complete the task that the City Lord has given him.

Arthur proceeds to take a pen and an ink. He begins to write a book for the procedures and laws inside the Magic Academy. He also decides to add a few more rules that he will use later on for the city.

The progress for the city wall is doing great. When Arthur has asked for the system to show the current progress rate, the system shows a dialog box.

[Main Mission: Protect the City I]

<Progress: 13.56%>

Arthur has already planned the next project for the Construction Department. He needs to do the blueprints for these buildings. He plans for the Castle to be renovated. He will copy how a White House is structured.

Next, he plans to have department buildings around this White Castle and then the Academy building. He plans a really huge campus for the Magic Academy. Lastly, he plans for the renovation of the roads using asphalt.

Arthur is so excited as for how many things are starting to change for the city. It is an important stepping stone for his plan of establishing a kingdom.