Chapter 7: A Secret Base and Solving Personal Money Problems

Leylin's POV

The art of potion-making was truly fascinating. There were countless possibilities I discovered while reading books in the library.

But I had a problem after absorbing the knowledge from all the available books in the library, and that was putting it into practice.

In short, I needed a nice place to work on my potions, preferably far from mother's control. She had reluctantly accepted that I was pursuing two different types of magic, so if I added another...

The place I found to create a base was in the library. It's Amity's future hiding spot, but now it's mine.

My second problem after finding a base was, of course, money. Creating potions requires money, and naturally, I can't regularly ask father or mother for it.

That's why I'm standing before this cunning reptile, accompanied by father. I want him to publish my favorite novel in this world.

"Fascinating, I love it," he said, clutching the novel "Warlock of the Magus World" in his arms.

"I love everything about it, especially the protagonist who is ruthless, and I adore the concept that he was originally a human without magic," he said, nodding with satisfaction.

"I knew it would be appreciated. Now, let's talk business," I said, smiling at the three-eyed lizard.

"Yes, of course. I, Piniet, wish to publish your book," he said, handing me a contract.

I read it, of course, and I was able to confirm that it stipulated undesirable elements, such as the obligation to provide a sequel to my work or face a penalty of Piniet's choosing.

"I don't want 10% of the profits from my book, but 70%, and no, there won't be a sequel," I said firmly.

"I acknowledge that the content you've offered is incredible, but offering you 70% of the profits is enormous, and why not a sequel?" he declared, frowning.

"The best stories have an end, Mr. Piniet, and my limit is 50%. If you don't accept, I'll go elsewhere," I said firmly.

He sighed before finally nodding in resignation and giving me a more ethically correct contract.

"Excellent. You'll deposit the money into this bank account and publish my book under my pseudonym 'Mr. Oroboros'," I said before leaving.

The machine is now in motion. I can only wait to receive the money to set up my lair in the library.

I would like to legally buy this place, but I doubt it's possible without significant influence.

"You negotiated quite well there, son," Alador declared on the way to his work.

"Thank you, but for now, I'd like to keep it a secret that I have a bank account and that I'm an author, father," I said to him in an insistent tone.

I knew that unlike Odalia, my father wasn't the type to forcefully impose his vision on others, except in rare cases.

He's more the kind of person who respects his word even if it costs him a lot.

In truth, I would have loved to go there without him, but I didn't want to take risks by confronting this greedy lizard alone.

"I don't know why you want to hide this excellent news from your mother, but okay," he said, rubbing his eyes from fatigue. It seems he already has a migraine thinking about Odalia's future outburst of anger.

"By the way, you haven't taught me anything really new about abominations recently," I said to him.

"The reason is simple, you've already learned everything, Leylin," he said, ruffling my hair.

"Actually, you just need to come to the company to study in the field with me," he explained, smiling at me.

I just nodded. I need to learn more from father after all. He was able to invent a machine capable of amplifying the effects of healing magic to help witches and demons regain multiple types of magic.

He's a genius despite letting himself be exploited by mother in their relationship.

...

"Leylin, I present to you Willow," mother said upon my return.

"Pleased to meet you. I feel we'll get along well," I said, taking her hands.

"She's here as your personal servant, don't forget that," she said as she left. Normally she would be in a good mood when handing over Willow to me, but surprisingly, no.

It seems that Willow's parents must have put up some resistance, and mother had to spend more or pay a huge price to obtain her.

"I'm Willow Park, nice to meet you," she declared after Odalia's departure. Her voice was clearly depressed.

"Come with me," I said, taking her to my workshop.

Father had it built when I started as an apprentice at Blight Industries. He wanted me to put my knowledge into practice in an appropriate place.

"Um... Mr. Leylin," she said in a low voice, clearly hesitating to enter.

"I won't harm you," I said to the little girl with a gentle smile, but I admit I felt like a suspicious man trying to lure a child into his basement.

"But the mean lady almost destroyed my house, sniff sniff," she said, shedding tears.

It seems that mother used blackmail to make Willow's parents give in, and worse, she's aware of part of the situation.

It will be complicated to bring her to my side. For now, I must opt for the carrot and stick approach, but also the kite approach.

"Willow, look at this," I said, drawing a glyph on a small piece of paper.

"Sniff sniff, what's that thing?" she asked, still with tears in her eyes.

"It's a little secret of mine. I call it a rune or glyph, and I can use magic with it," I said to her, holding out a sphere of light.

Nothing like a secret to get closer to an individual, especially naive ones.

"It's beautiful," she murmured, fascinated.

"Yes, isn't it? I need your help to invent lots more cool stuff, and in exchange, I'll go with you to your parents' house every weekend," I said, smiling at her.

Normally, no sane adult would fall for such a scam. I had literally separated her from her parents and now I was making her work for something that was her basic right.

But fortunately for me, Willow is still an innocent and naive child.

I remember she had a lot of problems with magic at this age, and Amity was often frowned upon by the friends mother had introduced her to because of Willow.

So I just have to make her believe that I'm the solution to this magical problem and that her separation from her parents isn't really one since she'll see them often.

"Can I use that too?" she asked me. I could see expectation in her eyes.

"Of course," I said, taking her hand to draw another glyph, the one for plants.

"Imagine a beautiful flower and touch the drawing," I said in a low voice.

"Wow," she let out, watching the flower sprout from the ground. She seemed hypnotized.

"So Willow, do you want to help me revolutionize magic?" I said, standing up and extending my hand to her.

"Okay," she said, nodding before taking my hand, and that's how she entered my workshop.

(image)