“So how have you been?” Julius asks nicely as Diedrik shoves open the door to Julius’ office with no hesitation. “Harassing any gods recently? Fighting nuns?”
Diedrik has been busy, and has made enemies of course with how successful he’s become, but chasing him through the capital seems extravagant. It can’t have just been shutting down one minor slave trade. Normally, Julius feels they’re close enough business partners to just ask, but seeing Diedrik look so different is not the same as reading letters with the image of a small boy in his head. Maybe Julius does want to take it slow, so he plans to keep it casual and see where this goes.
Diedrik closes the door behind him, raises a 4th level silencing barrier and takes a seat. He also drops off several paper bags on the desk that smell of freshly baked treats. A good start.
“Are those for me?” Julius asks.
“It’s breakfast for both of us,” Diedrik says as he tears the bags open along the edges to form make-shift plates. He pushes a warm muffin closer, the treat about the size of a small child’s face. “I know you like the lemon and poppy seed ones.”
“Bribery will always work,” Julius admits, pulling it closer. He lifts the giant thing and nibbles on an overhanging edge. He’s had some time to calm down and maybe he was a bit hangry too because now he can feel himself settling in.
Diedrik tears off a corner of some gooey apple tart and they eat in silence for a moment because good food is sacred.
“So,” Diedrik says with a smirk. “How have you been?” He seems completely relaxed, a far cry from last night. Either Diedrik has everything under control or he’s good at faking it. He does seem to be watching Julius closely though. “Are you okay?”
Julius goes along with it just because Diedrik gave him a muffin. “I’ve just been here.” He shrugs. “When you get to my age, child, you tend to slow down. Long walks on roses, smelling beaches, so on and so forth.”
“You’re barely thirty.”
“I’m an old soul,” Julius says wisely, talking bullshit. “In a past life, I lived until I had nine tails.”
Diedrik laughs. “Oh? I didn’t realise I was in the presence of a nine-tailed fox. What an honour.”
“Such immense power is a burden, really,” Julius demurs, eyelashes lowering. “You’re 5th class now, right? Practically a king yourself.”
“I’m keeping it hushed, otherwise the rats will scatter,” Diedrik explains. He slides another pastry, one with cream piped in, over to Julius. “Hunting them is so much more trouble compared to luring them in. Officially, I’m 4th. It wards off the weaker ones but it’s still low enough that people will try their luck.”
Julius pinches a corner and rips it off, cold and fluffy cream spilling out onto his fingers that he licks clean after.
“I’ve been busy learning how this world works,” Diedrik muses, eyes becoming distant for a moment. “So many new things. But so much information was lost. Sometimes I think humanity has taken a step back.”
“You’re one small child in one small forested kingdom,” Julius warns. “Just because you can’t find things doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There are entire continents filled with magicians and wizard towers that do nothing but focus on research. Reading books doesn’t make you wise.”
Julius made that mistake himself before. Items he thought were unattainable, or places he thought impossible to reach. Getting undercut by your competitor by more than half is quite a humbling experience.
Of course, Diedrik is strolling around with both power and finesse and sheer talent to back it all up and make sure he won’t hit a ceiling. Even pulling out things like that bomb last night.
To directly target mana is a terrifying thing. Julius checked the store room after and like always, Diedrik didn’t cover his tracks well, so Julius knows the guesstimated amount and all the items needed to create the bomb. He won’t ever be telling anyone but it’s good to know at least.
“Mana rain already has several copy-cats, and that biosimilar coming from the central kingdom is even better than yours,” Julius continues because merchants are a cut-throat bunch and Diedrik shouldn’t be relaxing after just a few good years.
“Which is why I sold off the production line,” Diedrik dismisses. “It’s already gone, don’t fuss over it like Hakim.”
“I’m using it as an example,” Julius insists. He stands and walks around to his tea station to begin brewing some. “Go on then, what’s next?”
“I’ve moved back here for now. It took far too long though.” Diedrik frowns.
He was only supposed to be gone for a few years, to make allies with more people and learn the new magics available to him, plus refine his plans while he builds money through his products. But things kept piling on – as he constantly complained to Julius.
Julius has been busy running around collecting books and ingredients for exactly those situations so he knows those stories. What he’s interested in is the rest.
“When did you get to know Chloe?” Julius asks, taking the pot off the fire.
“After Ede was so useful, I asked around for the information broker you use,” Diedrik says with no shame. “Of course I tried to contact the main information guild first but they’re in Malmierca’s pocket and I couldn’t trust them.”
Julius pauses at that name and debates what to say for a moment because this is now suddenly a very delicate topic. He moves back over, dropping off a cup in front of Diedrik and then taking his own tea behind the desk to sit down. “Why are you scrapping with Malmierca now? I thought it was the church.”
“I’m doing several things at once,” Diedrik admits. “I’ve been minorly involved with Malmierca’s merchant business -trade routes around the Govain lands that he’s been eyeing- and he’s pushing to be let in, right after I cleaned it up. Imagine the arrogance – or stupidity; he doesn’t seem competent enough for it to be anything else.”
“Oh,” Julius says with a huff of laughter, shoulders slumping in relief. “Sorry, I thought you meant the other one, the uncle. Yes, Ramelle is a bit arrogant and it can blind him. Just a suggestion, you should call Ramelle by his first name because his family name refers back to the main duke family and you really don’t want to get them confused.”
Diedrik raises an eyebrow. “Why are you afraid of the uncle?”
“Wow, where do I start?” Julius hums, making a show of thinking. “Maybe it’s that he’s a duke; and not a little baby version like you. There’s also the personal army he holds for the king, and the fact that he’s an 8th class. I’m surprised you haven’t encountered rumours of the man during your research.”
“I’ve heard of him,” Diedrik corrects, eyes narrowing. “I’m asking which one of those things you’ve listed is supposed to be frightening to me.”
Julius tears his gaze away from Diedrik’s icy blue. “Well, excuse me, I guess I’ll just roll around in the mud with the rest of the lower classes then, shall I?”
Diedrik chuckles. “That’s not what I meant. Thank you for warning me but I have things well in hand.”
“Do you now?”
“Yes. And I’m sorry for worrying you last night but some of my contacts have gotten back to me now.” Diedrik smiles, soft and reassuring. It looks odd on his face. “There might be some people around your shop or your house but I assure you they’re mine. I’ll take care of it. And are you really okay? You don’t seem…” he pauses. “…good with violence.”
“I’m fine,” Julius dismisses. “And it’s not the violence, it’s this ridiculous freeze reflex. Besides, I usually have McPherson to bully people for me – not that I’d want her anywhere near when magicians come storming in and pull down the whole building. I’m more worried about my staff. Are your people watching the shop properly or will they just be stalking me?”
“What I care about is you and your talent,” Diedrik answers.
“How sweet,” Julius murmurs. “And by the way, I’m not getting you a dragon’s eye, that request is ridiculous. If I was capable of moving around stock like that, I would be retired already.”
“I had to try,” Diedrik says with a dismissive shrug. “That’s fine, there are other ways.” He nods to the baked delights on the table. “Enjoy those. I have to head out, but contact me if you need anything.”
“Stay safe,” Julius warns.
And in truth, Julius was waiting for an excuse. For an explanation, maybe even an apology.
Because that trouble has come to Julius now. His shop was destroyed and quite frankly he was terrified. Diedrik didn’t say anything about the trouble being worth it, or about what Julius can get from this. The boy didn’t even warn him about how to avoid further issues. They didn’t talk about what kind of chaos would have happened if Julius wasn't here, or if his staff were in.
Julius can't let it go, it's too much of a risk. He trusts Diedrik to be ruthless but as proven by the boy going around Julius to meet his own connections, Diedrik has his own priorities.
That's fine, so does Julius. It's only business.
Diedrik leaves and Julius sits there for a long time, thinking. He stands and casts a spell that highlights a few scrolls. He brings them back to the table and pulls out thin sheets of vellum paper, then settles in. This will take quite some time.
