The company had been created.
The product had been fully finalized and named.
The advertising campaign and the distribution operations had also been finalized.
They even had a well-fleshed-out vision for the plan of action to get their business running.
They had taken the first major step as a business.
While Cæ wanted to immediately jump into interviewing production operators or applying for business loans for the debt financing of his business, they had already ironed out enough for the day.
Not to mention, he should have realized just how weak Feidin and Seliphaz were with alcohol, unable to hold more than a glass or two.
"W-Waii~" Selpiphaz's speech slurred as she stumbled unstably, her blue hair messily swaying about as her circular spectacles fell right off.
Feidin began hiccuping uncontrollably as his movements grew a little hazy.
Cæ heaved a sigh. "We'll have to continue this meeting tomorrow."
He ensured that the two of them got home safely before walking towards the Elendir Institute of Magic in the evening, pondering how he ought to have spent his time. His young friends were still celebrating, having graduated and playing about during their break. He could indulge himself with the excitable kids that he had grown attached to over the past year.
But he had other ideas in mind.
"I should visit the Selvigs." A small smile briefly cracked at the edge of his mouth. "It has been a while."
He had deeply wanted to invite them to the Elendir Institute of Magic, but ultimately decided not to. They weren't his legal guardians, for one, so he couldn't even invite them even if he wanted to. But more importantly, as much as it hurt, it was genuinely dangerous for them to be associated with him.
Especially with what had happened in the Graduation Ceremony.
The headmistress has shamelessly put a target, metaphorically speaking, on his back.
"Tsk," he tutted with an irritated expression at the very memory of it.
It was bad enough that he had been the target of much abuse and prejudice in the past year, until he finally managed to turn the opinion of people around, but now there was actual political motive to take him down a peg or two to weaken the Headmistress' iniative to acquire magical talent.
"…Associating with them openly could potentially open them up for being targeted as well."
He couldn't allow that to happen.
Of course, the fact that they were co-owners would not be missed by anyone who dug into him to any degree. However, an on-paper business relationship was hardly something that would strike anybody as a large weakness to exploit.
Their absence at the graduation ceremony would cast doubt on the notion that they were important to him. Thus, he could get away with maintaining a cordial relationship with them.
A co-owner would certainly check in on his business every once in a while. That was why Cæ wasn't too worried about his decision to visit them openly. It would instead be even more strange if he avoided them despite being business partners with them.
Thus, if there were people keeping some active tabs on him, which was not unlikely, Cæ wanted to provide them with the most mundane image that would not leave any avenue to the Selvigs being targeted.
If he wanted to be absolutely careful, he would ideally just cut ties with them, but unfortunately, that would not erase the records with them.
'I should eventually return to them their share of the restaurant, but not at this time, it will draw suspicion.'
VMMM…!
Cæ glanced up as he spotted a train flying over his head. Its body is painted with gold, white, and blue, the colors of the national flag of the Democratic Republic of Elendir. He spotted runes and magic circles checkered across the entire body of the train, describing the eidos of the enchantments and other magic that the flying train was enchanted with.
He could sense the immensely powerful mana crystals that the trains used as sources of energy.
His gaze shifted as his eyes swept around him as he took stock of the environment around him.
"And so, I was…"
"Ah, there it is…"
"Mommy, look at that train!"
The unintelligible chatter of dense crowds crowds of people around him drew his attention as his situational awareness returned to the environment around him. They walked about dressed in multiple layers of clothes, topped off by a meirin; a clothing article part of the ethnic attire of Elendir, comprising of a wide shawl that wrapped about the entirety of the upper body.
The honking magicars zooming past him on the street were more numerous than he remembered since the last time he visited this district. The density of magivehicles zooming about the street and inevitably getting clogged in traffic jams was greater than he remembered it.
It had grown livelier and more populated since he last remembered.
His gaze shifted back to the flying magitrains zooming above the cities with a knowing expression.
They made the district of the Democratic Republic of Elendir more commutable, allowing for more people to be willing to settle down in this district for commuting to work in other districts or even other cities.
His expression grew curious as he pondered what effect this development had had on Selvigs Ristorante. A year and a half ago, he had advised them to cut down on their menu to cater to customers who didn't have much time due to needing to catch a train to their next destination.
Eighteen months later, he could sense yet another shift in the population dynamics of the people of this district. It was possible that Selvigs' Ristorante could potentially revert to its old model once more due to enough time having passed, creating a new base of customers who could now live in the district due to the presence of the flying magitrain.
"They're probably too tired to do anything of the sort."
They were approaching the age of retirement, and rehashing everything was an extremely time and energy-consuming matter, not to mention the stress that Mrs. Selvig would have to face once more.
STEP
He eventually found himself at Selvigs' Ristorante late at night. The restaurant was closing up as the final customers began leaving for the night in a hurry for their final few stops of the magitrain.
He found his gaze sweeping across the boards and signs outside of the restaurant, and he found himself staring at them as he recalled how much time and energy he had put into rebranding the restaurant.
He could tell from the familiar smell of fresh bread and meat that restaurant had surely sold-out all the meatbuns that they had in stock. The last wave of customers were dense and large, showing that even at late hours, they could still maintain great sales.
"Cæ…!"
The delighted voice of Mrs. Selvig reached him, drawing his attention. Her aged expression was one of ecstasy as she studied him with her light blue eyes, squinting at him, contrasting with her red hair tied up in a bun for when she was at work.
"Mrs. Selvig," he smiled gently. "How have you been?"
"Oh, you!" she remarked with an endearing tone as she drew close to him. "We've been doing just fine as always. You know, we were just thinking about you! I'm so happy that you came to visit us. Come in. I'm sure that Darren can whip something up for you."
"I hope I'm not coming at an inconvenient time," he remarked gently, following her in as she ushered him inside.
"Why, not at all!"
They took a seat at one of the many tables as Mr. Selvig immediately came out, taking off his apron and chef's hat, heaving a tired sigh.
His eyes lit up with surprise as he spotted the two of them. "Oh, Cæ, my boy!"
"Mr. Selvig, long day of cooking?" he remarked with an amicable smile, standing up for a hard handshake.
"Hah!" the older man snorted. "Business is going great. We might actually have to slow down because it's frankly getting too much. I'm almost sixty, for the love of god."
Cæ spotted signs of aging, much to his dismay. The man's facial hair had grown to be more salt than pepper, and his face seemed to have gotten more wrinkles than in the past. Even though he had more spirit, he was also more physically tired than he used to be.
"Are you considering retiring anytime soon?" Cæ casually asked the two of them.
Mrs. Selvig heaved a sigh. "We can't keep doing this forever. Most likely…"
She placed a hand on Darren's. "We will have to retire in a year or two."
The air grew bittersweet.
On the one hand, they clearly loved their business and had fought to keep it afloat before Cæ came in and plotted a plan to fix it.
On the other hand, they were clearly approaching their limit.
Age was a reality that everybody needed to confront at some point.
"There's no need to feel bad about it," Cæ smiled at them. "It's just a part of life. And once you retire, you will have more time to pursue things that you might have otherwise been unable to pursue in the past. You can travel the world or indulge in luxuries and pleasures."
"Hah, things aren't that simple, Cæ," Darren chuckled, "not in this economy. We have solid savings for our retirement, but it isn't fancy either. It certainly will last us a normal life."
Cæ's expression grew more serious. "Please don't ever worry about finances ever again. After all…"
His tone grew more pointed, "you have me. I will ensure that you won't ever have to worry about money ever again."
Mrs. Selvig's eyebrows furrowed with indignance. "Absolutely not! How can we possibly have you fund our luxury with your hard-earned money? It will be too burdensome!"
Cæ shook his head softly. "Not quite. I will be much wealthier than I am now by the time you retire. And when that happens, I will be sure to pay the two of you back for everything that you have done for me."
Cæ's tone was entirely serious.
He hadn't forgotten that he wouldn't even be where he was if not for the fact that the Selvigs had given him the opportunity to work in their restaurant with a rather generous deal. After all, getting out of the slums was extremely difficult, especially for someone as young as he had been when he succeeded.
It was the first ounce of genuine good fortune that he had been blessed with in his entire life. Although he had been too old to regard them as his actual parents, they were family to him nonetheless.
There was no way in hell that he intended to allow them to so much as lift a finger for anything once he made good money.
While Mrs. Selvig was unhappy about the idea, Mr. Selvig was not much less reserved about getting financial aid.
"Hehe…" he grinned. "In that case, you'd better be ready to fund the most extravagant vacations for us when we retire."
"Darren!" Mrs. Selvig chided him.
Cæ, however, smirked with amusement. "I suppose I will have to work hard just to ensure that."
The two of them had a chuckle while Mrs. Selvig heaved an exasperated sigh.
Cæ lowered his guards entirely as he indulged himself in the company of family that he fully trusted from the bottom of his heart, being able to take comfort in his conversations with them. It only strengthened his determination to repay them for everything that they had done for him when he needed it the most.
"Enough about us," Mr. Selvig leaned in with interest. "I'm more interested in what you have gone through in your past year and since graduating. I'm sure you have some very exciting tales to tell us."
A small smile cracked at the edge of his mouth.
"I have a few."
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