The Protagonist System

51 Entrepreneur Part One

All talking in the cafeteria stopped when Louise and I entered, her hand on my elbow as I escorted her. I did the same rich person wave and said good morning, hello, and nice to see you as we moved along the tables to end where Louise usually sat.

“Wow, Louise! You're practically glowing!” A brown-haired girl said as I sat Louise down at the table.

Louise looked quite pleased at the comment. “I had a wonderfully relaxing bath this morning.”

“Are you sure that was it?” Kirche asked and she ran a hand through her long red hair to tuck it behind her ear. “There were some familiar sounds coming out of your room last night.”

I had to nip that in the bud before rumors started to flow. “Miss Zerbst, unlike some of your boyfriends, I can assure you that Louise has more class than to ride me like a stallion without a saddle.” I said and she looked confused as Louise blushed. “Bareback and without appropriate protection.”

Kirche looked shocked and at a loss for words while a lot of students around us muffled their laughs.

“Saito!” Louise whispered with a hiss.

“My apologies, Louise. I didn't want people to think you lacked respect for the institute of marriage like she does.” I said to placate her.

Kirche looked angry as she blushed from embarrassment. “There's nothing wrong with having a healthy dating life!”

“I didn't say there was. In fact, I freely admit that I had a lot of sexual relations before I was married.” I said and a few people looked surprised. “However, I was not a noble's daughter or had to keep my virtue intact for my future husband.”

Kirche blushed harder. “You have no right to judge me!”

I smiled warmly at her. “Ah, but I do. I met a woman with the same restriction and I loved her, so I married her as soon as I could and then took her to bed.” I said and every single girl around us let out surprised sounds and then blushed, probably because that was their dream come true.

“Did you actually love her or did you only marry her to bed her?” Tabitha asked and adjusted her glasses.

“For the month leading up to the wedding, I rebuilt an entire church for her, constructed a ten foot tall monument in her honor, built her a home to live in, fought in a dungeon slaying monsters, built her a business to be a source of money for decades, and gave her hundreds of thousands of écu right before the wedding ceremony.” I said and everyone was staring at me now. “The time we spent in bed together after that was worth the build-up, in both of our opinions.”

“By the all powerful pentagram.” Louise whispered, her face red and her legs trembling.

“Of course, you all know that I was summoned and I had to leave her and my family behind.” I said and almost everyone turned glares on Louise. “No, don't hold that against her. Her power reached across dimensions and brought me here. We all have to respect that, don't we?”

Most of the students around us nodded.

“If someone like her was able to bring me here to help her, then I know everything is going to be all right. I should be able to find several ways to return where I came from. In time, anyway.”

“You seem quick to accept things that are out of your control.” Tabitha commented.

“I'm not angry or upset about what happened to me, so please don't feel that way on my behalf.” I said and smiled at everyone looking at me. “Like I told Louise, I don't blame her for what happened and I hope no one else does, including herself. It's all going to work out in the end.”

“That is a very wise outlook to have, young man.” Professor Chevreuse said as she and another teacher walked over to us. “In fact, your behavior in front of such adversity has moved myself and my fellow staff member.”

“It has?” I asked and turned from the table to look at her. She was an older lady with an average face, was a bit plump, and her long brown hair was styled in a large bun at the back of her neck. The other woman looked just as plain, except she was tall and thin compared to the other woman's short plumpness.

“Oh, yes. We even rushed out last night to replace the two mirrors you borrowed from the bathroom.” Professor Chevreuse said.

“That was very nice of you, professors.” I said and stood, so she had to look up at me. I took her small hand and bent over it to kiss it, then did the same for the other teacher. She was about my height and everyone saw her blush from being treated like that in public.

“We had an ulterior motive!” She exclaimed and then slapped a hand over her mouth.

I chuckled and gave her hand another kiss. “I assumed you would, since most do, even if it is just to talk to me before we would have normally met anyway.” I said and let her hand go. “Might I ask what it was?”

Professor Chevreuse sighed. “I suppose there's no point in asking for some privacy now.”

“Of course there is. Not all things are for public consumption.” I said and cast a silence spell around the three of us.

Both teachers caught their breath and stared at me.

“It's a silence spell. No one can hear what we say.” I explained.

“That's something else we need to ask you about.” The other woman whispered.

“We bought two more mirrors and wanted to ask you to duplicate the ceiling enchantment for our bedrooms.” Professor Chevreuse said and tried to not glare at her friend.

“We want to sleep under the stars.” The other woman added.

I smiled at their little interactions and knew they were both genuine in their desire for such a simple thing and to learn about how it was done. “I haven't seen Louise's schedule for today, so whenever she has a free class, I can enchant the mirrors. I need to go into town after school this afternoon for supplies and I can't install the mirrors until after supper tonight.”

“That's more than we thought possible, young man. Thank you.” Professor Chevreuse said. “The mirrors are stored in the third floor maintenance room next to my classroom.”

“I'll grab my backpack between classes and will pick the mirrors up as soon as I can.” I promised and cancelled the silence spell.

“What was that all about?” Louise asked and motioned to us.

“A private conversation and a private commission.” I responded and she closed her mouth on her follow-up question. “I'll be handling it between classes, so I won't be leaving your side until after school for gathering supplies and then after supper for delivery.”

Louise nodded and returned to her meal.

“Ladies, I will see you later tonight, unless I see you in class before then.” I said and bowed to the professors. Both women nodded and went back to the head table to resume their own meals.

The first class of the day was charms and I was almost completely lost. Their magic system for casting was a mix of chants, intent, wand motions, and sometimes requiring using supplies. I definitely needed to go over Louise's notes for her first year to catch up with the rest of the class.

For the rest of the morning, none of the teachers objected to me being there with Louise. I quickly retrieved my backpack before lunch started and went to the right room. I gathered the two large mirrors that still had price tags of 10 écu on them, which meant they were expensive in the local economy.

That told me why the mirrors had so easily accepted the runic clusters and magic and I chose to not charge either of the professors for my work, since they had replaced the two mirrors I had taken. It was almost half of what Kirche gave me for enchanting her trunk and I wasn't looking to rip people off. Making money was about a returning customer base, so gouging the customers would be a mistake.

Louise had the second class off after lunch, so I handled the mirrors then. With the main enchantment to copy already in place, it was simple to duplicate them onto the new mirrors and I added the same protections. They didn't need the heating charms for snow removal and I replaced them with a deactivation rune to make them mirrors again.

I thought I would have to keep returning to recharge them when they were deactivated, then I remembered the monster crystals in my backpack. A quick attachment later and a charge from me, the mirrors worked. When they deactivated, it shut off the enchantment. When activated again, the monster crystal handled it.

I did both mirrors and put them into my backpack, carefully wrapped in padding and blankets. Louise gave me an odd look when she saw the sky scene showing in the mirrors, so I told her both teachers wanted them in their rooms, because they lacked windows. She accepted that and didn't ask me to make one for her, which let me know that she knew how expensive the mirrors were.

I fully accepted then that my choice to not charge the two teachers for my work was the right one. We went to the last class of the day and it was with Professor Chevreuse. She repeated the previous lesson, because Louise had disrupted it with an explosion and no one else but her had a chance to change pebbles into brass.

It was a very enlightening lesson that let me know that rocks could be changed to other metals, as long as they were naturally found within the earth. It opened up a huge avenue of exploitation for me and I chose to not show off right there in the classroom, despite my strong desire to do so. If the only limit of the local alchemy spells was what was contained within the earth, then I was essentially set for life.

I stayed completely silent as the teacher delivered three pebbles to each and every student for them to perform the same spell of transfiguration. To my surprise, she also put three in front of me and gave me a wink. I barely held in my laugh at her teasing smirk, because I was sure she knew I was going to shock everyone if Louise didn't shock them first.

“Miss La Vallière, if you could try that spell again.” Professor Chevreuse said.

Groans and grumbling came from everyone else in the classroom. The professor and I chuckled at their reactions.

“You all have forgotten that Mister Hiraga's presence has stabilized Miss La Vallière's magic.” Professor Chevreuse said. “If you could perform the spell first, Miss La Vallière, we would all appreciate it.”

Louise gave me a pointed look.

“Trust in me, Louise. I won't ever lead you wrong.” I said and leaned in close. “Remember that your affinity is fire, so channel your magic appropriately.”

Louise took a deep breath and let it out, then nodded to me. She knew her passion was a contributing factor to her magic, so she held her wand aloft as she chanted the right spell to channel her magic before she pointed the wand at the three pebbles on the desk in front of her.

“CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” I yelled and several students screamed and ducked. Everyone else in the room covered their ears and eyes as they waited for the explosion... and were shocked when it didn't happen. The three pebbles in front of Louise glowed brightly and changed into brass.

“By the pentagram that controls all things, I did it! It didn't explode! IT DIDN'T EXPLODE!” Louise yelled and jumped several times, then she hopped onto my lap to hug me and held on, as if she was afraid I would disappear if she let go.

I patted her head and held her with one arm. “I told you that your magic was stable, Louise. You no longer have to worry.”

Louise gave me a beaming smile and nodded at my stones. “It's your turn, Saito. Show us what you can do.”

I chuckled and motioned to the girl next to us. “I'm not an official student yet, so it should go to the next in line. I won't disrupt the class more than I already have.”

Professor Chevreuse chuckled. “It's fine, Mister Hiraga. Your new peers can wait for a moment.”

I nodded and pretended to chant the spell, because I didn't need to, and pointed my wand at the three pebbles in front of me. They shimmered brightly like Louise's did and changed into a glittering goldish color.

The teacher clapped and some of the other students joined in. “Well done, Mister Hiraga. You've just performed your first official spell under professional supervision and did it perfectly.”

“Thank you for giving me the chance to try, professor.” I said and bowed my head to her. “Your instructions were extremely informative. As long as you keep what you want to happen in your mind, even the beauty beside me should be able to perform it on her first try.”

The brown-haired girl next to me blushed at the compliment and took several breaths as she centered herself. I could tell that she took my words to heart and she performed the proper chant and the wand wave, then pointed at her three pebbles. They shimmered and changed from rocks to brass.

“Well done, Miss Belfleur!” Professor Chevreuse praised her and the girl blushed again.

The other students in the row took inspiration from our success and also performed the spell, gaining both the ability to perform the spell and praise from the teacher. When everyone else was concentrating on the next row of students, I concentrated on the pebbles in front of me and cast the spell again.

Since I didn't actually have to chant to perform the magic, it happened soundlessly and the three pebbles changed from brass into what I wanted them to, 24 carat gold.

Louise stiffed on my lap and gave me a piercing look, glanced around to see that no one else noticed the much brighter shimmer of the gold nuggets, and scooped the converted pebbles into her hand and pulled hers over to set them in front of me. The glare on her face told me I had better do it again.

I held in my laugh at her taking full advantage of my spellcasting ability and I changed her brass pebbles into gold nuggets. She scooped them up as well and had a completely innocent look on her face as the last student performed the alchemy spell and changed their rocks into brass.

“Excellent, everyone! You all did it. Well done!” Professor Chevreuse praised us. “I couldn't be more proud of you all. Please give yourselves a round of applause!”

We all did so, except Louise, whom was holding six golden nuggets and didn't want to drop them. I added a pocket to her skirt and she gave me a bright smile and shoved them inside.

“Class dismissed and I'll see you all tomorrow.” Professor Chevreuse said and we all packed up our things and filed out of the classroom. She gave me a questioning look as I passed her and I nodded and tapped my backpack, which made her give me a smile nearly as big as the one Louise had given me.

“I need to head into town for supplies.” I told Louise and she nodded without speaking. “I'll see you at suppertime.”

“Yes, yes. Thank you, Saito. You may leave my side until then.” Louise said and quickly walked off with her hand buried in her new pocket and she was mumbling something about weights and measures.

I laughed under my breath at her dismissing me for a few chunks of gold, rather than begging me or demanding that I make her more of them. I pushed that thought aside and went to the servants quarters near the kitchens. I had to get an escort into town to show me where to go to get the supplies I needed.