The 1.000 year Great Sage ---> COMPLETED STORY

From the Gateway at the throne room, exited a very silenced group. And one little Princess very pleased with herself and with an air of triumph in her eyes.

King Rohan greeted them with a smile.

- Hello everyone, how did it go?

Everyone was completely silent, while Princess Heiji looked like she had won something.

- …

King Rohan lost the will to smile when he noticed the strange mood of everyone.

- That bad?

Seya scratched his head.

- Well, it wasn't all bad… but in the end, the Princess blew up! And she acted like a true Princess! I'm still surprised!

- Yeah, never forget that I am the Princess of this Kingdom! And if those old geezers don't change their ways, I'm really going to take their heads when I rule this Kingdom!

Seya did a deep bow.

- Yes, my Princess!

King Rohan was looking at his daughter, she seemed to have grown!

- That's… a big change indeed… what happened in there?

The Minister of Magic stepped forward.

- Maybe I can explain.

The Minister started and Seya completed some parts. At every sentence, the King was smiling more and more. By the middle of the conversation, he was already laughing like crazy. When the Minister stopped talking, the King was still laughing while holding his belly that was about to explode with so much laughter!

- Ahahahahahah! She really said 'Fear us! Worship us! Obey us!'…Ahahah!

Princess Rohan was also laughing.

- Ahahahah! Yeah, I was truly amazing!

Princess Arys was caressing Princess Heiji's head.

- For once, I must agree with you. Very impressive, little Princess!

Seya smiled at that gesture from Princess Arys.

- I hope that after today, we start seeing some new things from them. Or not. And the Princess will chop their heads off.

Princess Heiji shook off Arys hand and she pointed at her friends.

- Yes, I will! I don't need them anymore! I have here a bunch of future scholars!

Myra Calcym looked at everyone with her.

- Us? What?

Princess Heiji frowned while looking at Myra.

- What, you have better things planned for you?

Myra Calcym waved her hands, fearing that menacing look.

.- Not yet, but I could have!

Princess Heiji shook her head at that.

- Sorry, not allowed! And what about you, Seya?

Myra Calcym pointed towards Seya.

- Hey, why does he have a choice?

Princess Heiji smiled.

- Shut up, the Princess is talking! I really, really like this joke! Ahahahah!

Seya just shrugged his shoulders.

- I don't know about you guys, but I have somewhere to go. Ryn, want to come with me?

- Of course. To where?

- My King, I bid you farewell for now. Princess, Minister, and Mages, goodbye for now. ||Gateway open…|| … let's go, my dear.

- Yes…

- ||Gateway close…|| … remember this hill?

Crossing his Gateway, Ryn saw again a familiar view. There were some small white clouds on the horizon and a gentle breeze was slowly making the grass and the flowers at Ryn's feet move a little, like greeting her.

- Oh, it's our spot! I really like this view! But why did you bring me here?

- No reason. I just wanted your company.

- Heheheh! Thanks. It's good being appreciated. But why do I feel that you are feeling guilty?

- Yeah, maybe I am. I'm having a lot of work on our lands, so I couldn't be with you as much as I wanted. I'm sorry about that.

- Our lands. I still find it weird! I'm just a merchant daughter! Why me?

- Yeah, why you indeed? Considering that you at first only saw me as an airhead moron!

Ryn Mycym poked Seya's chest.

- Next, you are going to say that I did all that on purpose just to get your attention!

- That's it! You finally admitted it! I thought I needed to slap you to have you confess your mischievous mind!

Seya protected his cheeks with his hands.

- No slapping, please! Last time was enough.

- If you do another dangerous and stupid thing like that ever again, I'm going to slap you even more!

- Ok, I'll try not to. But I can't promise. Even the Goddess tried to correct me before and she couldn't!

- So I'm supposed to wait for you not getting yourself killed?

- I think that even if I wanted, the Goddess wouldn't let me die…

Ryn Mycym grabbed Seya's collar and shacked him.

- What did you say, you stupid brat?

- I'll try not to die! Ok? But I can't promise that I won't do anything stupid. If all goes according to my plan, I'm going to do a lot of them!

- What's that plan? It's something that I must worry about?

- I don't think so. I want to improve and develop all the villages so that they become a tourist spot. I'm also aiming for the lands to become the most important food resource of the entire Kingdom. In the meantime, I'm creating some tools to improve the lives of everyone in this world. I haven't thought about what comes next, but we'll see.

- That's a very nice plan. What can I do to help?

- For now, just be like you are all ready. You're just perfect like that. When and if I need your help, we'll talk about it, ok?

- Ok… now, are you going to kiss me or what?

Seya tried to act uninterested, only to gain a punch to his stomach.

- Nah, I don't feel like… ouch!

- You were saying?

Chuac!

Seya smiled at Ryn while holding her close.

- I really need to learn when to joke.

- Yeah, it would be better for your health, that's for sure!

- Shall we go? Or else that crazy cousin of mine will not stop mocking us.

- Can't we stay here a little longer?

- For as long as you like.

- That's good. I like it here. You are going away today, right?

- No, I'm only going tomorrow after buying the ships for the fishing villages.

- But what you are doing on those lands, after all?

- I'm making some great changes. I think that in a few days when we get some days off school, we can invite our friends for a visit. What do you think?

- That's actually a very good idea. I can see for myself if you already have found a concubine! I'm also very curious about what kind of people they are.

- A concubine? Yeah, like I would take that risk. I think you will like the people there. They are very straightforward people and they don't waste time on little things.

I think they are like that because they were so far away from the influence of the Empire. And living so near the Eternal Forest was always a risk. They never knew when a wild beast could come from there and kill someone.

- That had to be hard. I hope you can do something about it.

- I've already done that. And tomorrow I'll improve the security measures.

- Good boy! Heheheheh!

- Now you are just mocking me.

Ryn Mycym shook her head and she went for her belt purse, looking for something.

- No, I'm not! And for proving that, I'm going to give you a treat… where did I put it… this belt purse as too much space! Ah, here it is.

- An apple? I'm not a horse!

Ryn Mycym laughed because of the frown that Seya made, looking at the apple that she was giving him.

- Heheheheh!

...

In the next morning, in the harbor, Seya was walking around, looking for one particular boat shop. There was a lot of activity everywhere. There were fishermen carrying that day's catch, some of them re-supplying the boats for the next exit and some making small repairs.

He finally found the shop and he saw the man that looked like the owner, evaluating by the way that he was giving orders all around to the people working there.

- Good morning. I'm Marquess Seya Hinamoto. I came here recommended by the Representative of the Mycym Merchants Association.

The Shipwright smiled.

- Oh, I was expecting Milord! Right this way, please. I have here our best and bigger fishing ships, fully equipped with the latest kind of fishing nets and strong ropes.

The Shipwright guided Seya towards the back of his shop. On the open yard, there were a lot of big ships and some small ones. He pointed to two enormous ships.

- Those are too big for now. I need ships fully equipped for a maximum of 4 fishermen.

- But Milord, these ships can carry 6 fisherman and 3 wagons of fish! And at this price, it's a bargain.

- Well, I want 4 ships for a 4 men crew. If you don't have it, I'll bid you farewell.

The Shipwright was happily smiling at the thought of such a huge order, which would mean a lot of money.

- Milord, 4 ships? So many? Of course, I have it! I can also make a fair price for that quantity! I thought that the Marquess only wanted 1 ship!

- I think that 4 ships will be a better deal for you, won't it? And also for me.

- Of course Milord. If I may ask, how will Milord pay for them? If I need to take care of the transport, I will have to put that expense on the price, for that travel.

- I will pay right away. And if you can have the ships ready during this morning, I will also include 5 Magic Crystals with any Magic that you like.

- Milord, you are joking! 5 Magic Crystals would be more than enough for paying those 5 ships! And with the Magic that I wanted? Even better! Ahahahahah!

- Ok, we have a deal then. 5 Magic Crystals for 5 ships. What Magic do you want?

- Ahahahah! Milord, if I can choose, I would say Light Magic or Fire Magic! It would be great for working in the shop until very late with the Light Magic and with the Fire Magic, it would help on the heating of some wood for some special parts.

Seya opened a Compressed Dimension inside his pocket and he then put his hand there. When he took the hand out of the pocket, he gave the Shipwright a handful of Magic Crystals.

- … Here. Five Magic Crystals, completely full with Light Magic for paying the ships, and Five Crystals with Fire Magic for the prepping. You don't need to worry about the transport of the ships, I'll take care of that.

The Shipwright was looking at the Crystals against the sunlight, and he could perfectly feel the Magic in all of them.

- … Milord… these… My Goddess! Milord, I'll make sure that the ships will be fully equipped when Milord returns!

- Perfect. I'll be back in a couple of hours. I need to visit the Market.

The Shipwright looked worried.

- Milord is going to the Market alone? Without an escort? I can call some of my men to accompany Milord!

- That's not needed. I can take care of myself, don't worry. And if someone tries something weird against me, it will be their last act on this world.

- Certainly, Milord, I didn't want to sound disrespectful, I was only worried about the fact that Milord looks so young.

Seya had a gloomy look, remembering something about his past.

- Yeah, people always tend to underestimate me. And then they die.

…

On the City Market, Seya was leisurely walking while looking at the products and the prices. He looked very relaxed but he was aware of his surroundings and he knew for a while that he was being followed since the harbor. He stopped in front of one big seller that was looking back at him, wondering who that young boy could be.

- Let me see, what the prices are and the majority of the products this season. Seems that there's a high demand for wheat and other cereals. Strange.

The seller was smiling and he approached Seya.

- Young boy, you are looking for cereals? I have here some, not much, unfortunately.

- That's what I was wondering. Why there's a lack of cereals all around? And also a lack of vegetables?

- The Military requested a lot of cereals because of that attack of the Empire. The vegetables it's because lately, the lands are not very good for those kinds of crops. The farmers have specific time frames for most vegetables. There are a lot of carrots and turnips but a lack of cabbages because those are planted on other months.

Seya looked serious, he was thinking about the implications of what the seller was saying.

- The two plantation system is still the one most used, it seems.

- Oh, you know something about farming! But I've heard that some lands are using another system and methods for taking care of the land, with amazing results.

Seya smiled, he had a lot to do with that.

- Yes, the three system method. That was a very good idea indeed. But why those crops are not here for sale?

- Because there's a high demand for them. When a seller as them exposed, it soon gets sold! It's really impressive.

- I see. And you don't have farmers that can send those for you to sell?

The seller spread his arms, like exposing his own small selling spot.

- Unfortunately, I'm not a big seller with connections to high Nobles. I'm only a small city seller, representing some small farmers of some small villages.

Seya made a small smile, he was having an idea.

- So, supposing that I had a lot of some vegetables to sell, you would be up for the task of selling them here?

The seller pointed with his hand to the empty boxes of products that he had sold out already.

- My boy, if I had such high demand products, I would sell them like crazy! I may not look like it but I'm a really good seller. And I would give your fair share of the profit, of course!

- Ok, we'll keep in contact then. I'll return another day.

- Be my guest. I'm always here, on this exact spot. May I ask your name, young boy?

- I'm Seya. Marquess Seya Hinamoto.

The seller had one eyebrow raised, he seemed in doubt.

- A Marquess? It can't be! You're so young!

Seya winked his eye at the seller.

- But I am. It seems that you now have connections with some High Nobles, right?

The seller shook his head to wake up, maybe he was dreaming. He was still doubting, but in case that boy was telling the truth…

- Yeah, I suppose… Thank you, Milord! If Milord trusts me with his products, I will not fail!

Seya waved his hand while leaving.

- I will hold you onto that! Goodbye, for now, I'll send someone tomorrow with the goods.

On a hidden corner, lurking in the shadows, there was a couple following Seya's every movement. They could hear bits and pieces of the conversation between him and the seller and they were smiling at each other.

- You were right, we did well following that boy since the harbor. It seems he's really loaded.

The suspicious woman squeezed the arm of her partner.

- Yeah. Let's go grab him when he passes near. No one will see or hear him in here!

The suspicious man was watching Seya, that was coming closer and closer to the corner where they were hiding. The plan was for the woman to grab Seya, as soon as he gave the signal.

- Here he comes… hold it… now!

- Come here boy, let us get you free of that belt purse! Arghhhhh…

As soon as the woman reached his arm, Seya reacted. He twisted his body while grabbing the woman's arm. Suddenly, there was that familiar sound of bone cracking and the scream.

The man was looking at the woman, and he went towards Seya, trying to grab a knife from his belt.

- What did you do? You broke her arm!

- Oh, I didn't saw you! Don't be jealous. Here, one broken arm for you!

Jumping on the man's direction, he landed with one foot on the man's shoulder and another foot on the wall. He then grabbed one of his arms and he seated on it while still grabbing and pulling. Seya twisted his body a little while leaning back and holding the arm still with his legs. And there goes another bone.

- Arghhhhh…

Seya was standing at 2 meters from them, ready for anything.

- Robbers, in daylight, in the middle of the market. Really, really stupid.

I don't know why you two were following me since the harbor, but I guess that you just wanted some easy money. You two have indeed bad luck.

The woman was grabbing her arm, that was pending in a weird way.

- … ahhhh… it hurts so much!!

Seya opened his Compressed Dimension and he took the slave chains that he had removed from the maid and the stable boy of his Administrator. He had previously repaired it while he was talking with the seller, just predicting this attack.

- Wait, where did I put that chain… ah, here. One neck and feet chain for you and another for your partner. Now, let me Heal both of you… done.

The man was looking at his arm, the pain had suddenly stopped.

- What? Healing Magic? My arm! It's all good now!

- Explain yourselves, why were you following me?

They both were silent, just looking at each other and at the chains that were on them.

- …

Seya shrugged his shoulders.

- Or I can just break your arms again.

The man spoke quickly.

- We saw you at the harbor! We noticed you entering there and talking with that Shipwright! We heard something about buying ships, so we thought you could be full of money!

- Yeah, you really have bad luck. Of all the persons in this Capital that you could have followed, you had to choose me. I'll let you choose your punishment. Do you want to be sent to the King, or to that Shipwright to work as slaves? Or I can just kill you now. You choose.

The woman screamed.

- The Shipwright! Yes, the Shipwright! At least he will not kill us on sight!

- The Shipwright it is… ||…Gateway open…||… here we go, will you follow me freely or do I need to drag you both from those chains?

The man was looking at the Gateway, and at the ship parts on the shop that could be seen on the other side.

- What's that Magic?

Seya grabbed both chains and he dragged them through the Gateway.

- Come already!

The woman screamed because the chain was pulling the collar around her neck.

- Ouch! We're coming!

The Shipwright was looking with surprise at the slaves that were being dragged by Seya, but he was more worried about that strange door that suddenly appeared in the middle of his workshop.

- Milord, is something wrong? Who are these persons? And this Magic?

- I've found for you two working slaves. They tried to rob me on the market. I'll give you both, free of charge, as a bonus for the speed if the ships are ready for delivery.

The woman shouted while pulling her chains, trying to get rid of Seya's hands.

- You can't do that! Only the King can punish someone to be a working slave!

Seya calmly opened his Compressed Dimension and he pulled a sword from it while looking at the two captives with a cold look on his eyes. He always hated bandits.

- I am the Marquess Seya Hinamoto. I'm a personal friend of the Royal family. The Little Princess calls me Big Brother. If I say that from this day on, you two are working slaves, then you will become working slaves! Or you can be dead bodies, you choose. I haven't killed anyone today, so I'm a little anxious.

The man looked at the women, and he slowly shook his head. She stopped struggling immediately.

- …

- Good choice. Well, you can have these two, I ask just one thing. Treat them well and make sure that they learn an honest job. I'll come from time to time to get news on both of them. If I see changes in their behavior for the best, I will free them. If not, I will kill them both. Can I count on your help?

The Shipwright pointed at the 4 ships fully prepared that could be seen on the open yard on the back of the shop, over some easels.

- Of course Milord! And I have the ships ready, fully equipped! I was just wondering if Milord will take the ships today or on another day.

- I'll take them right now. If you excuse me…

Seya went to the open yard while gathering his Magic and he then threw four walls of Dark Magic with his Compressed Dimension. The Shipwright, the new slaves and everyone at the boat shop was astonished. The boats that seconds ago were at the back of the shop on their easels had completely disappeared as soon as that Dark Magic hit them!

The Shipwright was rubbing his eyes and he looked at Seya.

- What was that? Where are the ships?

- They are inside my Magic. Now if you excuse me, I must deliver these to my villages. It was a pleasure doing business with you. If everything goes well, I'll return in some months to buy more ships.

Seya opened a Gateway to one of his fishing villages. When the Gateway opened and while he was crossing it, everyone on the boat shop could clearly see the ocean on the other side of that magic door. When Seya dispersed the Magic, the Gateway slowly disappeared. It was as if it never were there.

The man looked at the woman and he then changed the position of his slave collar.

- He was right, we were really unlucky going after him.