MERCHANT ADVENTURER

Lakeburg

At a first glance, Lakeburg seemed like the ideal place to reside. The town was built right next to a great lake, which connected to a river. The river flowed all year long.

At a closer glance, the town was desolate. The only inhabitants, whether male or female, were all enlisted in the army. Not a single building was defaced. The entire town was guarded tightly, I doubt a flea could get inside. It was obvious, this place was ruled by martial rule.

Even the children were all trained at a young age in the military academy. They stayed at the dormitories and hardly returned home.

The new townspeople would all be here to work as farmers. They will work the land, to raise the crops to feed the burgeoning population. And as discussed with Septimus, all these people must worship the deity of the harvest.

It was a strange wonder that Septimus was the deity of the harvest, but he didn't have very many farmers on his land. When I inquired after this, he said he could simply make food appear, so there was no need for farming. This explained why his men manning the ship didn't question where the food came from, when I magically made it appear.

For Septimus, the new inhabitants of his land were there to worship and add to his power. Before, he had no need, since the Klein family did a great job getting the people of Salsburg to worship him. However, under the heavy rule of the Bromwell family, where did they get the leisurely time to devotedly offer prayers to him?

Septimus offered me a different and fuller understanding of the heavenly beings. As a deity, there were so many more things he was able to tell me, which Midas was forbidden from doing so. Due to her low status, she had to follow the rules laid out by those superior to her. Midas scowls whenever she sees Septimus. Yet, on his part, he always gives her a smile. Sometimes, the smile was fake and sarcastic. Other times, the smile was genuine. Since I was curious as to why Midas hated him so much, I asked him point blank about their past encounters.

"Well," he began, "There's really nothing much to divulge."

"Come on," I pestered him. "There must be something or else, why would she hold such a deep grudge against you."

After pleading with him for a long time, Septimus finally caved in and told me how when he first became a deity, Ame-no-Uzume loaned Midas to Septimus, to help him acclimate to being an immortal.

"At the time, I really appreciate Midas' help. You don't know, back then, she was a rather cute angel. She carefully looked after me, like a devoted little wife. After a while, I thought she might have liked me. And to be honest, I kind of liked her too. Eventually, when I was sure of our mutual feelings, I . . . well, I, er, I gave her a kiss. Then everything went wrong. She accused me of being indecent with her. Landing a loud, strong slap across my face, she hurled insults you would have never known someone of her pedigree to even know such words. Afterwards, she stormed off and I was branded a knave, a rogue, a scoundrel and many more horrible names I can't utter aloud."