Chess Mage of Faerûn

Chapter 500 The Charming Manager Jia

My rapid progress on the path of arcane magic is nothing short of a miracle to my companions who have been with me all the way. They think it's better to be taught by me than to go to the academy and eat from the communal pot.
But that's overthinking it. A good mage and a good mentor are two different things. He's too busy with his own affairs to have time to care for an infant.
Even a well-behaved and lovely female student like Xier has to rely on her own efforts to study and learn. Do you expect Master Zhang to give you special tutoring?

After a moment's thought, the monk reopened the scroll, and a rather peculiar emblem came into view.

The inner ring is a gear with a cross shaft.

That is the emblem of the god of craftsmen.

Three days later, at the High Cliff Wharf, Captain Lars Baumann of the Auerbach, whom we hadn't seen in a long time, greeted the mage and Nancy and the dwarf brothers on the deck with a big smile, while talking about the recent profits from his merchant shipping business.

"Your magic is truly amazing. Right now, no merchant fleet in the entire Sword Bay can keep up with her speed. In just a few months, we have already made more than ten voyages."

After the last renovation, the Auerbach that arrived at the high cliffs only had its cannons and missile launchers removed, and was replaced with enchanted crossbows specially made for it by mages. In addition, the propulsion system was retained and the hull was reinforced and modified. As an excellent ship that combines firepower, speed and defense, the Auerbach stood out among the many merchant ships in Sword Coast and its reputation gradually grew.

After all, your magic ship is much smaller than a merchant ship...

Is it glorious to win a race in a wheelchair?

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!

Before, everyone else was in wheelchairs and suffering, but I turned my life around and started driving a race car. Why is that not honorable?

At least that's what Captain Lars thought. Fortunately, he was still somewhat clear-headed and knew where this good fortune came from, so he didn't forget to offer tribute to Master Zhang.

It's not much, just a mere half of the profit sharing.

Even the ownership of the ships was temporarily handed over to the mage by the Grand Duke. We should be grateful for the lord's generosity that the ownership wasn't split 30/70.

Lars, who received the mage's message a few days ago, did not delay at all. After unloading the supplies in Waterdeep, he rushed over to await orders.

"That's settled then. Lars, take them to Port Bode. The Grand Duke's people will come to hand them over to you. Rest in the dock area for a few days; there's a shipment to be transported."

"And you, Chanem, are you really not coming with us?"

As they parted, Nancy couldn't help but ask again.

"You go ahead first, I'll go to Deepwater City and then meet up with you."

The oars stirred up eddies and cleaved through the waves. As the mage watched the Auerbach sail out of the harbor, he turned to leave, but then a somewhat obsequious voice reached his ears.

"My lord, you see, this berth is the best location at High Cliff Wharf. The water is deep, it's close to the shore, and it has direct access to the warehouses. Even the unloading cranes are right next to it,"

"This seat will always be reserved for you, whenever you need it."

"Oh?"

The monk turned his head and looked at the man in front of him with great interest. His appearance was exceptional, comparable to that of Captain Jia, a peerless beauty.

His thin figure was somewhat hunched, and his triangular face, with its pointed snout and monkey-like cheeks, had a pair of triangular eyes. His expression was both lewd and shrewd. Fortunately, this small territory of Faerûn was teeming with all sorts of races, but none of them were Skaven. Otherwise, his appearance alone would have been enough to warrant a charge of Skaven infection and a noose around his neck.

On the bright side, perhaps he will become the chosen one of the Great Horned Rat?
The monk didn't mean to judge a book by its cover; he was just amused by the other person's words.

The vast, unclaimed land of Gaoya finally has an owner, and it's a mage lord like himself who's not easy to mess with. It's unrealistic to say that the local bullies who used to occupy this place didn't have some concerns.

Originally, if you turned the entire High Cliff Territory upside down, only this port was of value. As a piece of fat meat left behind by the already extinct Deszel family, it had long been coveted by a pack of wolves. Even the mouth of a certain newly promoted mage lord couldn't get into the slot, let alone extend his claws.

Gaoya Port, nominally governed by the village chief, the council of elders, the trade association, and the militia, is in reality nothing more than a division of interests among several Wudong noble families.

To give just one example, the Gaoya militia group didn't even have a clear and unified leadership. Its members came from diverse backgrounds, including local villagers, caravan guards, and private soldiers of nobles. You can imagine how weak the organization's cohesion was.

They are always willing to try other methods whenever they can avoid the use of force.

The so-called village chief is just a title, a nominal position to appease the local villagers, and in reality, he is just a seat in the council of elders.

A single vote is nothing to the entire Council of Elders!

In this tiny place, with fewer than a thousand people in total, they've managed to put together a leadership team of nearly twenty. Every meeting is a battleground of bickering and fighting for the interests of their respective masters. They're so fiercely competitive that they could practically turn each other's brains into dog brains.

On the contrary, the so-called village chief, the only representative of the local villagers of Gaoya who make up the largest proportion of the population, basically just keeps his eyes down and acts as a mascot.

The man in front of me, Mr. Jax, is the manager of the docks, and his backer is the Magic Conch Trading Company, which belongs to the Schwamke Buff family.

Having climbed to such a position, and with such prestige, Mr. Jax would certainly not be as clueless as some brainless fools who insist on flaunting their insignificant power by targeting those they cannot afford to offend.

He had also put in the effort to understand this neighbor. As a rising star who had climbed to the top by stepping over the corpses of two old families, Jax had long considered him someone to avoid provoking.

He didn't know how powerful the other party's backing was, but it was still better than his own small body. Besides, he was risking his life to gamble on the wizard's temperament.

Why bother.

In fact, Jax, who had come eagerly to receive Lord Zhang, was already prepared for the other party to use this as an excuse to make things difficult for him or even to coerce him.

If it were one of those predators behind you, having acquired a vast territory, only to have the most valuable part singled out and divided up, how could you not feel resentful? You'd definitely want to take advantage of the situation and make up for it.

By adopting this obsequious demeanor and even readily offering up the best berth at the dock, they were simply putting on a show to prevent their powerful neighbor from having any reason to make trouble.

So far, things seem pretty good? It seems the neighboring lord is just here to see them off?
"Oh, that's thoughtful,"

The monk looked at the smiling, shrewish face before him, nodded slightly, and then, as if politely declining, said:

"Guigang's shipping traffic is so busy, yet they still reserved a berth for me. This is really too much of a waste. If you calculate it carefully, it's probably more than ten gold coins less in berthing fees every day. That adds up to several hundred gold coins a month, and a year... Tsk tsk, how can this be allowed?"

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(End of this chapter)