A Mage's Apprentice

As Harmonize reached its crescendo, Omni once again felt an urge to sing, which was ignored. It didn't even know the full lyrics to any song that wasn't club music, and that was hardly something to be yelling to polite people. The performance of Harmonize appeared to peak when the urge came up and showed no signs of budging.

'𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳?'

The golem shook its head, that was a problem it could tackle once the weekend started tomorrow, and it could begin learning from Krave. Harmonize was already letting the quintet perform at the speed of professional chefs, which was plenty to keep up with orders. And with Omni taking the orders, Harmonize could relay them directly to keep things flowing smoothly.

The morning rush ended after about an hour, and while the restaurant made a tidy profit, the ingredients were already running low. Omni wrote up a list of bulk ingredients and assigned Valentina to purchase them with the quintet acting as bodyguards and porters. Elizabeth's group informed them that once they had reached a particular profit margin, they could contract the merchant's guild to get a regular supply of ingredients and stated they'd be back for dinner with Ace.

While Valentina was out, Omni modified the former cleaning golem, making it larger and more robust. It would serve as a cart puller in the future when hands were no longer enough to carry whatever they needed. Omni then put together a stone chair to place in the front for the large golem to sit in; it planned to make it the poster boy to help them stand out more from other places.

While the Market streets weren't that far away, Omni could still feel the energy thread connection just fine, which was good news; it should be able to have the quintet continue working in the Quiet Respite while it studied under Krave. Soon enough, Valentina was back with the quintet looking like the boyfriend of a rich woman buying clothes, barely recognizable under all the bags and boxes they were carrying. The ingredients were sorted away, and preparation for lunchtime began.

There weren't nearly as many customers as the morning rush; the bulk arrived at the usual hours while adventurers popped in now and then. Ghorm was performing well enough that Omni offered to hire him, to which he agreed with the stipulation that his wage is paid half money and half alcohol, which was fine. Omni noticed that Ghorm's cheeks were slightly red, and he smelled of booze, meaning he was drunk while working. If it hampered efficiency, the golem would be mad, but dwarves seem to retain senses while drunk so long as they focus. A somewhat useless but interesting tidbit nonetheless.

The hours ticked by, supper came and went, Ace was enamoured with the food to the point of nearly making himself sick eating too much, things as usual. Dusk fell on the city, and the nightlife reared its head. While Christoph and Valentina needed sleep, Omni did not, and it decided to keep the store open to see what kind of people were night owls in this city.

'𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘸𝘭 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦?'

Omni's revelation is quickly interrupted as some customers come in, dark circles under their eyes and shifty demeanours.

"Finally, a clean place opens at night," the tallest one commented. They talk amongst themselves as they sit in the corner. They seem confused that a golem would be taking orders but shrug it off. The nighttime customers are surprisingly polite. There weren't very many throughout the night, but they always came in at least pairs and murmured amongst themselves.

The dawn eventually burned away the night, and Omni made some last checks and final orders before heading out. The morning air was rather cold, or at least Omni thought it was; it was hard to feel the temperature as it was now. Seeing the cold vapour from people breathing as they walked past confirmed its thoughts.

'𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳.'

The golem strolled as it took in the sights; perhaps Valentina was right, this place was peaceful, and everyone seemed to have an innate sense of helping each other. Is this city an outlier? Maybe the whole world is like this? Perhaps it was the old world that was the outlier... Omni arrived in front of the tower without realizing it, snapping it out of its melancholy thoughts.

With a knock, the door opened on its own, and the golem walked inside. Krave was already shuffling about his office, scribbling on and sorting away stacks of paper. "Ah! You're here, help me with these papers, yes?" The old demon more told than asked, shoving a couple of stacks into Omni's hands. "Can you believe there are apprentice mages who don't know how to spell? Preposterous. Take that quill and circle any errors."

Omni found a spot to set down the stacks and sit; looking through the pages, they seemed to be an exam of sorts. Krave placed a heavy sheet of paper with runes on it next to the stacks, "Here's the answer key. Grade them while you're at it, eh?"

'𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦.'

The golem smiled to itself as it began working away on the pile, going at its own pace. "Why is someone like you in charge of grading students?" Omni asked.

Krave sniffed dismally, "That damn cub said I had too much free time, told me to 'earn' my research funds as if I wasn't doing enough work already," he complained.

"Cub?" Omni asked quizzically.

"The Queen, she thinks that just because she took the throne that she's all that and more, but she's too young to be in charge if you ask me," The old demon replied.

"... You say that, but you sound jealous to me," the golem stated with a tilted head.

"Damn right I am; when I was a whelp, I didn't have the kind of opportunities she does," he sighs, "Then again, when I was a whelp, I would've balked at the idea of responsibility," he chuckles.

The room goes silent save for the sound of quills scratching against paper. Even with the two of them working at high speed, it still takes an hour and a half to finish going over all the exam papers. Krave sets down his quill and groans while stretching his back, which audibly cracks.

"Why are there so many people apprenticing to learn magic?" Omni asks.

"Because of the conscription," Krave off-handedly replies.

"... Conscription?" The golem asks in a heavier tone.

Krave frowns immediately, "Huh? Conscription? I don't remember saying that," he lies poorly.