CHAPTER 123: INVITATION

Laura nodded thoughtfully. Although she found it suspicious.

"So you want me to attend the ceremony with my magic, right? I can do that without any problem; it’s easy in fact. Where will it take place?"

"In the Industrial District. On Rainbow Street. It’s not a very big place."

"On Rainbow Street in the Industrial District?" She was surprised and stared at him. "You..."

She thought about asking him how rich he was, but she had already done that a lot lately. She decided to stick with the memory that he had a Grimoire. That alone should be enough for her to know that this guy was richer than she could imagine.

She resigned herself to smiling. "All right. I’ll go tomorrow then. I’ll have to prepare a good number of runes just in case."

"Good. Prepare level 3 runes as well. I’ll help you with the level 1 ones I know, so you can focus on the higher-ranked ones."

"Level 3?" She frowned.

If it were a ceremony, why would they need such high-level runes? Were they going to war or to the Tower?

Louis nodded. "Yes. Life in the Industrial District is complex at times."

"Complex?" She was surprised by what she thought that meant.

She didn’t know why, but she had a feeling that... Louis was in trouble.

His business... maybe it wasn’t so normal?

Despite this, she nodded. "Well, then I’ll make several." Now she was a little worried, so she would spend the whole night making them, just in case something happened.

"Haha, well, I’ll leave it to you."

Finally, Louis was able to relax and look around the room.

Then she, who was worried, had to keep up a facade to present her work to him.

Basically, she had level 1, 2, and 3 runes to sell. She also sold magical amulets, which are runes focused on general tasks or not closely associated with attacks or defenses (they belong to the Passive Fabrics category).

This includes things like amulets for luck, amulets to invoke protection at specific times, or things like that. Many of these types of spells are often nonsense. Increasing luck was a bit of a sham.

Luck can’t be measured in numbers, so how the hell are they going to increase it?

But many people believe in them, and some say they’ve worked for them in winning the lottery, so many ordinary people buy them frequently. Thanks to that and the fact that they’re easy to make, they’re relatively cheap.

In this case, Laura’s main business was selling runes.

She can sell three types: Runes printed on plain paper, which cost between 950 and 1950 Jens.

The price tends to increase significantly if they are runes placed on special parchment. The cheapest ones cost around 1,500, and the most expensive ones around 3,000.

This is because the container’s quality increases the magic’s effectiveness. Special parchment costs considerably more than regular paper, so prices can increase significantly.

The third type of sale is when the customer wants it done on a parchment designated by them, and the cheapest ones cost 3,000 or even more.

Now, that’s only for level 1 runes.

For level 2 runes, the average lowest cost is 2,500 for the cheapest ones and easily increases to 9,000 or more in very special cases.

Level 3 runes are in a league of their own. The cheapest ones cost 10,000, but prices usually exceed tens of thousands and even reach crazy amounts.

Unfortunately, those who usually come to buy runes don’t buy high-level ones. They generally buy level 1 and, at most, level 2, and they don’t usually buy in large quantities.

Mark Neville is a special case in this regard, as he simply wants to spend his spare cash to get Laura’s attention and help her.

Because of this, Laura often has money problems, but it seems she won’t have any more problems for a while, so today she felt comfortable closing early.

The two chatted for a while longer, until night fell, when they each went their separate ways.

--

The Neville House is one of the Great Noble Houses of Velharthe, the Capital of the South.

Impressive in every sense, both in power and status, they are one of the most famous houses in the empire.

Although they no longer directly control large portions of territory, their subordinates manage significant portions, which allows them to remain on the national stage as one of the few houses capable of achieving Castle status one day.

It is not easy to achieve that status. It requires more than raw power—it requires much more.

There are Seven Castles throughout the Empire. Velharthe has three, the Northern Capital, Northwhite, has three, and the Imperial Capital has the Royal Castle.

Each of these castles is equal in status, but that is because they wield tremendous power at the national level.

For example, Evergreen is known throughout the territory for having the best magicians and running the Tower of Magicians in Velharthe, a paradise for all magicians in the Empire. In terms of magic, and thanks to the Tower, they wield incredible power throughout the territories.

They have powerful magicians in every local, state, and provincial government, as well as powerful Court Magicians and top-level Ministers.

They are the Magical Power of the Empire, along with one of the houses of Northwhite.

On the other hand, the Priestleys are practically the economy of the Empire, and there is only one man, whose family is very small, who can rival them in that regard. But the Priestleys have power in the banks to the point of having infinite money.

Besides having mines and other important things, it’s hard to match those guys. Their companies are also powerful. They simply control the Empire’s economy at will, and if it weren’t for that legendary man, they could threaten the entire continent, bringing down the economy.

Luckily, that man existed.

Now, the Lockwards in the realm of castles are special. In every sense.

They cannot be judged by normal standards, because... everyone born into the Lockward Family is Rank S.

And this makes sense. Obviously, how could it not?

It is no secret to anyone in the Empire that the Lockward Family are, in some way, distant relatives of the Gods of this world.

The true rulers. Those who have established a government that has lasted more than 500,000 years and who have been able to break the curse of the Ages.

Everyone would love to have a distant bloodline from this family, which can already guarantee them S-Rank. That’s why they can’t be easily judged.

They are all S-Rank and have absurd potential. Furthermore, the total strength of the family is beyond comprehension. No one knows how strong they are, but their Executioners, the most well-known members of the Family, can strike terror into any of the Castles that exist in the Empire.

That is why they have earned such an impressive status.

The problem is that little is known about them. Information about the Lockwards is very secretive, although lately they seem to be in alliance with the Church, so it may be that more information will come out about them.

The other castles are almost counterparts to Velharthe’s, not counting the Royal Castle. That is the ruler; it has the Emperor, the nation’s armed forces, and many politicians.

But they are not that important on a global scale. At least not as important as Priestley or the Lockwards.

Even the Evergreens rival them.

All castles are given the same status: they are all Kings (or Emperors).

This is to satisfy them all.

That is why, when they say that the Nevilles are likely to become the Eighth Castle of the Empire, they say so because they are powerful in their own right.

Their power is distributed differently from that of the current Castles. They control a lot of territory through noble families. Many of those families belong to the Nevilles; others are simply subordinates who grew to become what they are now: rulers of territories.

That is why the Nevilles are likely to achieve that grand status.

So, all members must maintain appearances at all times and hold their heads high, visiting the places to which they are invited.

Today, an invitation arrived via one of his subordinates.

"Mark, do you want to go?" His father, Robert Neville, called him to pass on the information. He had his reasons.

"According to reports, the new leader of the southern part of the Industrial District is a brave young man. You could befriend him. To be considered young, he must be under 30 years old, and to be able to control an entire city region at such a young age is impressive. I think he will achieve a lot in the future," he said.

Mark was reading the invitation letter, and he was also surprised.

"Father, you know I like capable people, so you already know my answer. I don’t think you called me here just to ask me if I want to go."

Robert smiled. "You’re good at reading people, as always. I’m proud of that."