City Of Sin

B3: 1-10

Once Lazy And Luxurious

The sky in Norland was just as dark as in Faelor, especially over Floe Bay. The thick clouds were so low the top of the Deepblue almost pierced through them, and even though it was morning the sea was dark as dusk. All the ships were anchored into the harbour, even the open sea ships that moved with magic not daring to set off. In the high seas, the weather was the true master. No matter how grand and large a ship was, one wouldn’t dare go through a storm with it.

All the grand mages of the Deepblue were gathered at the conference room. It was time for their monthly meeting, and the figure of the legendary mage was missing as usual. Sharon had recently been coming and going in a hurry, showing her face for no more than half an hour each time. She would just open another portal, travelling to another plane.

The atmosphere in the hall was just as stressful as the weather outside. All of the mages looked glum, with no sunniness in sight.

Blackgold had a thick stack of papers in hand, and was reading out from it with a hoarse voice that made it sound like his mouth was filled with wood shavings. This was the report for the income and expenditure of the Deepblue in the past month. The numbers indicated that the finances were improving rapidly— no, they were going straight up. The most significant part, the categories of income and profit, had doubled from the last month. If not for their consumption increasing greatly as well, the profits would have grown much more than twofold.

This was a number that could stir anyone up, but none of the grand mages could bring themselves to be happy. Even the dwarf himself was listless. Looking closely, one would realise that this increase in income had come solely from Sharon obtaining ample harvests during her journeys through the myriad planes. Every time she returned, she normally left some of her profits in the Deepblue.

She had gone to more planes in the past month than in the previous year. Normally in a hurry, she flung the spatial equipment with her harvests out and picked up new equipment. She would then set out immediately. She would hand Blackgold a list detailing the allocation of these things before tossing the huge pile of spatial rings, belts, bangles, and boxes over. She didn’t even want to waste time discussing how to split it up in detail with the dwarf.

The flow of time in every plane was different, which was why nobody knew how long the mage was spending out. However, the statistics in the financial report gave Blackgold a rough idea. The legendary mage was working hard in a way that she never had before, and the wealth of the Deepblue was growing at a startling rate. With the wisdom of the grand mages, this increase in finances was turned into a method to raise their strength or to build a new source of income. This also served to increase the Deepblue’s status on Norland.

However, they could not be happy with this upgrade.

Sharon could not hide the slight hints of fatigue whenever she returned. Her outfits seemed dusty and travel-worn, but even without resting she would leave once again. Her beloved fruits and snacks had already filled up the storage room, but if Blackgold didn’t stuff some into her spatial equipment each time she wouldn’t even think of taking them along on the journey.

The legendary mage was the soul of the Deepblue. When she lost her smile, the sky above Floe Bay would turn gloomy.

Blackgold was vexed as well. This was the first time in his life that these high numbers were aggravating in his eyes. He wanted to kick all this wealth from different planes away.

He would rather go back to the time when there was only a slight increase in income every month, when he worried about the increasing deficits. He did not want to see the legendary mage so dedicated. The myriad planes were rife with dangers. Sharon surpassed normal legendary beings, but every time she explored a foreign plane there was the possibility that the trip was only one way.