System Change

Chapter 415: Not for Him

Derek left Malorie to her Rudys office with a smile plastered on his face. Hed have to go talk to Natalie about the property information and why he was given such special treatment when she didnt even give herself or her noble house the same kind of treatment. Of course, he wasnt going to look a gift horse in its mouth, which is why he told Malorie to go ahead and buy it all.

To be fair, whether he rented or bought the property didnt matter much to Derek. It was all the same to him. Honestly, the biggest factor was that once he bought the property instead of renting it, Malorie would have less on her plate to worry about. It wont be much less, but every little bit counts.

If not for that, with the amount of gold he already had, it was enough to rent lot 33801 and the other two for the remainder of his lifespanas long as he made it to the same age as Edwin. I wonder if that evolution changed my longevity. Thats one of those questions I wish I would have thought about when I was speaking with Dave. Im able to regrow limbs, so having a longer lifespan wouldnt be too surprising.

What I do know, Derek thought. Is that Geoffrey is going to be a very busy man soon? He half laughed to himself at the thought. The slimy businessman was his go to contractor, and with two more lots to work with, Derek would be building on them sooner rather than later. Hed also just saw the materials that Tyron used for the dragon kennels, and he thought that those would make pretty decent material to build with. On top of that, they seemed to take to being equipped with runes quite well. Hell I love the mystical glow that the Void Emporium has, but it may be worth it to see about adding some of those other materials into the current shop as well.

Making the Void Emporium an indestructible fortress hadnt crossed his mind before, but since building it, the war happened, and he didnt know if something like that would come along again. At least weve pretty much secured peace throughout this continent. The dwarves dont sound like greedy folk, and I doubt that, even if they were, they would ever try to wage war against the other three kingdoms combined Still It wouldnt hurt to enhance the shopcreate a sort of fallout shelter just in case.

If he were to do that, then hed be able to leave for extended periods of time without worrying about his people. It will make dungeon running with Alanah or farming Void Beasts with Avery much less stressful. The only thing that he could think of that would help even more than that would be a way to alert him if something happened, no matter how far away he was. He was, after all, only seconds away with his Void Travel skill at any time.

Derek shrugged as the door connecting Rudys contract shop to the hallway of the other shop closed behind him. Hed have to ask around about some kind of alert system, but he doubted it would be possible. If it were, Alanah would already have one.

With that thought, Derek entered the main floor of his shop, then decided to help out for a while. He hadnt taken the time to see how his two employees ran things, and he didnt have anything better to do for the time being. It was too late to leave Savannah and head to the capital to visit Thomas or Clare, but it was also too early to head to bed or have dinner. I bet Silvi wouldnt mind making a second lunch, though, he thought with a grin.

So, like that, Derek lived out his dream of customer service. At first, the two kids, Dina and Lance, were extremely nervous with him working alongside them, but after a while, and after learning that Derek had absolutely no clue what he was doing, they started acting normally around him. It helped that Derek asked a bunch of questionseven very stupid onesand didnt treat them like they were beneath him.

Finally, after a few hours of some of the most mentally draining and exhausting work hed ever done, the two employees closed up the shop and left. Hed never been a huge people person, though he was getting more used to it, so dealing with strangers all day was very much out of his comfort zone. A century or two trapped in the void was more than worth not having to get a class requiring retail or customer service, he thought as he made sure the front door was locked.

Malorie had told him that the store had gotten popular, but he hadnt realized how popular until now. Sure, it wasnt as crowded as some of the other stores or places like the Crown, but the fact that so many people came to shop even though it was so far away from the center of the city, really showed that Brandi and Malorie were doing fantastic.

Once finished doing his best job impersonating a retail employee, which he found out was very much not for him, Derek finished the day like normal. That included dinner with everyoneeven Brandi joined them againthen an early end to the night.

The next day, Derek decided it was time to head to the capital. With Brandi being as excited as she was to see him, he was beginning to feel bad about not visiting Thomas yet. So, after a nice breakfast prepared by Silvi, he headed out toward the Teleportation Building. Sure, he could have used Void Travel and appeared in the capital, close to the academy. From what he gathered, it wasnt far from the palace, and he had the perfect spot in the center of the Throne Room to appear.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

And how do I get these papers? Derek asked.

You can either take your ward to one of the City Buildings and submit an application with them there, or you can send an application to the academy and it will be verified by your ward, the guard explained.

And those are the only ways? Derek asked. He could always just use Void Travel and appear directly next to Thomas, but he didnt want to give everyone in the academy a heart attack by doing so.

Im afraid so, the guard said.

Well I wanted to surprise him but oh well, Derek thought. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a blue communication crystal and began channeling his mana into it. Hed already bought and given each of his people at least a blue crystal that he received from Geoffrey back when he was contracted to build the Void Emporium.

Thats the guard said, pulling Dereks attention. Probably not going to work.

And why is that? Derek asked.

Because the academy has runes preventing most communication crystals from working. You need specific runes to get through, he explained. Those are used by staff.

Dammit, Derek said. Wait, maybe I can use the noble, do you know who I am? line, and they will be forced to let me in. He seriously thought about doing that for a moment before deciding against it. No, I dont want to cause too much of a commotion. I would hate to embarrass Thomas in front of any friends or enemies that hes made.

The biggest problem Derek was having at the moment was that almost everyone was still in Indaria. Id prefer to contact Edgar or even Edwin, but I cant Maybe Natalie can help? He thought, but decided against bothering her for the time being. I guess it cant be helped.

Ill be back in a bit, Derek said to the guards with a sigh before leaving.

True to his word, Derek was back about half an hour later, and behind him was a very anxious Phillip Musgrave. Hed been left in charge while the royal family was at the wedding, so Derek figured hed be able to help. The adviser was more than happy to drop everything he was doing and follow Derek. Derek had even gone through the front entrance to the palace this time instead of appearing out of nowhere, just to be respectful.

After a stern talking to and a light beratingwhich was stopped by Derek because the guards were just doing their jobsDerek was allowed entrance to the academy. Phillip even gave Derek a special token to show if anyone questioned his entrance.

As the gate behind him shut, Derek turned around to Phillip and the two guards. Thanks again! he waved back. Once the gate shut, he turned back around and looked at the massive building in front of him. Time to find Thomas.