PATRIARCH FOWL
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Casual Heroing, Chapter 72
🕑 Added 2023-03-10 21:32:00 +0000 UTCNews about Joey? 📰📰📰
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4/4 chapters this week!
Next chapter comes out on Monday 13th!
Chapter 72 – Work
“Joey sent a message. He said he’s not coming to work today because he’s working on something. He said he might not come for a week if it takes him too long—but he also reassured me that he will come back...”
Raissa looked at Clodia after announcing the news. Everyone already knew what had gone down since Tiberius and Quintus showed up with a few bruises and had been quite literally assaulted by the swarm of gossip-hungry [Bakers].
“You can go, Raissa,” Flaminia nodded.
The two highest-level [Chefs] of Happy Bakery waited for the diminutive Elf to leave them alone so they could have some privacy.
“Do you think this is going to turn into a problem?” Flaminia asked Clodia.
The muscled Elf frowned and bit her lower lip.
“I don’t like when someone must reassure me that they are coming back. We just invested a lot of money in his ideas.”
“They got assaulted by [Soldiers] at the Drunken Elf. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was shaken. Now, the real question is: what is his molded head thinking about? He’s just staying at his place? Working on what? Is he actually working on a recipe?”
Clodia drummed her fingers on her desk, absorbed in thoughts. Flaminia raised a valuable point, but they were all too busy with work to go check on him right now—which didn’t mean she wasn’t going to send the pink-haired bimbo to him later.
Who knows, with some luck, Flaminia might jump on Joey’s dick and kickstart the whole Enchantment again. I don’t think she’d have any trouble doing that, Clodia thought to herself as she evaluated her employee and business partner.
“Are you thinking about something mean again?” Flaminia looked over.
“Me?” Clodia smiled innocently. “No. But we’ll need to find out more about this. First, I’ll interrogate Tiberius and Quintus; you’ll pick up the rest of the information on your shifts. Do not bully them too much. Send them in right now.”
“Sure,” Flaminia sighed and got up.
It was time to work already.
...
“Miss Clodia,” they both bowed to her slightly, and she smiled at the two new employees that Joey had earned her—well, perhaps they weren’t exactly hers. They were Joey’s; she was under no illusion that the two men’s loyalty rested with the weird Human.
“You have already told the story to the girls. Would you mind explaining to me what happened last night?”
Tiberius hesitated, and Quintus swiftly took over the question.
“Those bastards! Those filthy bastards! [Soldiers], Miss Clodia! I will never be able to thank you enough for liberating us from that stupid [Vow]. I wish I could tear their green ears apart—those rookies!”
“Quintus,” Clodia cringed at the spirited man. “I need to know the story, please. From the top.”
This time, Tiberius spoke up, his voice measured and calm despite the anger in his eyes. “Joey wanted to get some drinks together and requested a day off for all of us. We were going to offer some drinks to him and a few other friends – the guys that were with us at the bake-off, Stan and Truffles, and another friend. We asked Claudius as well, but he had some work early in the morning.”
Tiberius scratched his head as he clacked his wooden leg on the floor. “After we arrived at the bar, Joey started joking around as usual. It was a very fun night out—the first one in a very long time for some of us. And then, out of the blue, [Soldiers] swarmed the premises. One of them punched Truffles and then provoked Joey by insulting his mother. Joey attacked him.”
“He did, didn’t he?” Clodia sighed.
“Miss Clodia,” Quintus interjected, his voice urgent. “If I can... Joey just cares a lot about his mother. We hope there won’t be terrible repercussions because of him not showing up.”
“Terrible repercussions?” Clodia frowned at the man. “Have you been learning new words from the girls? What repercussions? I have put enough money on Joey that either his ideas are successful, or I might need to beg my mother for another loan—which I’m not sure she would give me.”
The two ex-[Soldiers] simply stared at their new boss, realizing the gravity of their situation. Clodia's outrage was palpable, and they knew they had to tread carefully.
“I’m just worried about Joey. Just keep me updated on how he’s doing,” Clodia said, her voice softening slightly.
...
After Tiberius and Quintus left, Clodia was alone with her thoughts.
Joey talked about... anxiety? Is that what he called it? Is he afraid that the [Soldiers] will come for him again? Those green-eared, speciesist idiots will certainly not put a foot in Agostina’s building. That’s for sure. The old hag would kill them all without batting an eyelid. And unless they bring their [Sergeant] with them, no one would dare tell her anything. Even then, I doubt she would actually get punished.
Is there anything I can do for him? Should I have the others send him some food?
Clodia was used to taking care of female employees in abusive relationships, with a difficult past or a thousand other problems, but suddenly, she was confronted with a different issue.
What would I do if he was a girl that was assaulted by a man?
Clodia clenched her fist.
Cave the man’s face in. But I can’t put down [Soldiers] out in the street. Not even mom would be able to get me out of that. But there certainly must be something else.
What should I do?
Sighing, the owner of Happy Bakery went back to the books and the orders she needed for the increased production in the foreseeable future.
She decided that the only thing she could do for Joey was to trust that he would be mature and responsible enough to handle whatever he was dealing with on his own.
...
“Seven dicks,” I mutter, observing the seven triplets of [Lights] that I just generated and cracking my neck.
Yeah.
You know, I just wanted to make sure that the first time around wasn’t a fluke, that’s all. The big-dick energy was not only real, but I was most definitely its master.
By the way, I hope Clodia doesn’t kill me.
Raissa came by to make sure I was okay, and I told her I needed to work on a personal project. I didn’t want to give out that I was actually working on my magic, you know? It’s going to be my insurance. It’s basically my version of going to the gym when you are bullied because of your size.
And talking about size, I really hope Clodia doesn’t get too mad at me. I tremble at the sole thought of those big arms smothering me to death.
Now, whether it would be a good or bad experience is a matter of opinion. But yeah, I’m a bit scared, okay? Listen, I’m not big. I’m no The Rock, okay? Clodia, instead, probably does the Elven version of CrossFit or something like that. I swear, her arms must be twice as strong as mine... actually much more than that. So yeah, I feel it’s completely fair and not at all emasculating that I feel like she could crumple me like a sheet of aluminum with her demonic claws.
I exhale in contentment at the fantasy.
“Back to work,” I tell myself and look at the book.
“Yo, book, how you doin’? Ready for some magic?”
The book ignores my good manners and opens to the same page it showed me early this morning.
‘The first exercise Magister Mulligan has prepared is to make two [Lights] circle one after another at the same speed for a full minute.’
I chomp on a piece of Altamura bread that I had left in my bag of holding as I sit on the bed and read out loud.
“Make two [Lights]... circle one after another... at the same speed...”
I keep chewing as I think about how I would actually go about doing that.
I feel like taking my head between my hands and crying.
As you can imagine, after saying ‘how difficult can it be,’ it obviously turns out to be not just hard, but nigh impossible.
When I summoned two [Lights], I found that controlling them was not as straightforward as I thought it would be. Their movements were jerky and erratic, lacking the fluidity and grace I had hoped for. Furthermore, their speed seemed to be hindered by their inability to move smoothly, as if they were struggling to maintain their balance.
[Advanced Mana Sense]
[Deep Focus]
I take a renewed look at the two [Lights].
[Deep Focus] envelops me, and I become aware of the sound of my own breath, loud and rhythmic in my ears. My heart provides a steady beat, a melody that helps me sink deeper into this focused state. I open my eyes and summon two [Lights] to take a closer look, using [Advanced Mana Sense] to examine them more closely.
While I usually reel after activating [Advanced Mana Sense], [Deep Focus] allows me to brush it aside. My eyes are fully committed to the spell matrixes.
What is it that makes a spell move?
So far, I have moved the [Light] by willing my Mana in the right direction. You can basically feel the core of the spell and how it belongs to you. From there, you simply tug at it. But the results have been absolutely pathetic. In the same way that multi-casting would have been impossible if I had tried using ‘two hands for two drawings,’ this will also be impossible if I go down this road.
I find myself wondering about the mechanics of spellcasting. How exactly do spells move and function? Is it as simple as rearranging the magical matrix, or is there more to it, like turning on the ignition of a car? I imagine that casting a spell like [Fireballs] requires a great deal of speed and precision, especially if you want to hit a moving target. But how does this movement happen? Is it like a slingshot, with the spell being propelled by the caster's energy, or is there some sort of internal engine that powers the spell's movement?
These questions plague my mind as I continue to think about a possible solution.
I am surely not pushing around the spell matrix but just the completed spell—the result. What if I start operating inside the matrix, then? I mean, on the matrix. Perhaps there’s a way to manipulate the components in a way that they will generate motion?
I turn off [Advanced Mana Sense] and look at the floating book in front of me. What’s the best way to ask the book such a question?
“Book,” I say, still in my focused state, “is there a component in the matrix that will make the spell move?”
The book, still open in mid-air, turns a page.
‘No. Movement is not a part of the matrix per se.’
“But does it have anything to do with the matrix?”
It takes the book over a minute to reply, another anomaly for the cheeky bastard.
‘How a spell matrix is built might change its polarity. The four cardinal points have an influence on magic. If you want to manipulate the trajectory, you must manipulate how a spell matrix is created.’
What?
