Delai Family Guardian

[Delai Family Guardian: Epic. Passive. As the first and head retainer for the newly founded Delai family, you are now the official family guardian. To support you in your duties, all stats are increased by 5 and an extra +25 to Luck whenever this title is equipped]

I could not stop reading the description for my newest title after Lady Mara made things official not only for me but also by naming Lana as her successor. Now, I finally had a strong Luck title that actually looked good when I wore it. Treasure Hunter was a common title and color while The Opossum was only a little better with an even worse name.

Above the names of the rest of my friends were blue Unique Titles that read 'Delai Family Retainer', the lesser versions of my own title. Unlike mine, they only received fifteen Luck for wearing their title but they for some reason did not have even half of the titles that I did so they did not have anything better. It was something we could work on, though.

Right now we were all gathered in a large and only slightly dusty dining hall seated around the end of one enormous table sitting with Lady Mara and Lana while Mr. Harlow and another middle aged lady served food and drinks. Normally we would not be eating with Lady Mara and Lana like this, or the others would not be, but today was our welcoming. As well, Lady Mara wanted to talk about business.

Now that Lady Mara had chosen to adopt Lana and raise her into a proper lady to run a small business empire, Lady Mara needed to figure out what to do moving forward. One of the topics projected was changing locations, selling this old estate that had been in their family for about five generations until the sixth was cut short. Lady Mara was not only the person to suggest this course of action but also the person who needed convincing.

We all threw out the basics, like how it would be easier to take care of a smaller place with fewer people and the like. Lady Mara, though, did not seem satisfied with these things. So, I made the hard call and told her that she needed to do it so she could get over her family and move forward with a new one while she still had time.

It seemed like the entire city went silent after I said that and everybody just stared at me as if I had actually brought an elephant into the room. Lady Mara, on the other hand, smiled despite a tear rolling down her cheek and said, "I thought so, too. I just needed to know I was not the only one."

Next was what to do with the new property. Since she had already seen all of my titles and skills it was obvious that we would need a forge and general workshop. As well there would need to be a greenhouse of sorts for Oleander and a general training ground. As well, we needed somewhere to house numerous familiars.

Most of the things I felt we needed were external additions so I outright said not to bother asking any of us about the interior or which property and when. This was fine for them, though, because something like the greenhouse could be on the same part of the property as the main house while the workshop can be placed in a back corner with the barn away from the house and neighbors if possible. As for training grounds, Lady Mara said she could allot a full acre for these needs but if we required more we would need to seek our own property as well.

Since the Delai family, Lana, could benefit from all of the things we requested then they were not an issue. However, we would eventually be finding our own place for the sake of our future clan. Preferably somewhere away from towns and cities where we could do anything we wanted. Literally.

There were laws in this world that forbid certain forms of… monster farming. However, the easiest way to get ahead as a large group or organization was to farm monsters so you can constantly feed your henchmen. If we had many acres and a lot of magic, though, we would have no problems.

Next on the to-do list was getting to know my team. The previous discussions already took up all of lunch time so I secretly sent messages to everybody about what kind of answers they should give to what kind of questions as well as to keep their answers short. I did not think anything would actually go wrong but it was better to be safe.

After learning more about the classes and specialties of my friends without really caring for any in-depth information or even verification, Lady Mara simply started telling us about the kind of business her husband and predecessors had been into. They ran a shipping as well as escorting company. Which mostly dealt in shipping large-scale monster and natural materials.

Now, though, Lady Mara wanted to get directly into the materials business rather than simply running guards and transport for it. This meant that she needed to secure means of acquiring as well as getting rid of materials in general. I, of course, had a solution to both of them problems.

My team and I already had enough goblin materials to get a company's name out there. As well, we were the perfect team to send out collecting materials because the leader, at least, had good qualifications and connections to a popular auction house. Lady Mary admitted that this was an unavoidable course of action for the time being.

For the time being, though, there would be no actions directly taken besides further building the household. When this came up, though, I had some thoughts on the subject and asked about bringing in two maids and their family. Of course she was curious as to who I had in mind and why so I had no choice but to tell her about Canley and his family.

However, I made sure to sell his high points such as being a capable fighter as well as an excellent smith and armorer. To sweet this aspect even more, I pointed out how grateful the young man would be for our taking care of his family as well as keeping him out of the military. I already sold the armor he was making for one hundred gold per after paying twenty per.

She said she would keep this in mind for consideration and quickly moved on to giving us orders. Until they had a strong enough business to branch out into hiring other people for collecting materials or enough money to trade directly between existing entities it would be our jobs to provide 'stock'. She wanted us to join the Guild and take on large numbers of missions that would bring us valuable materials from both monsters and other forms of wildlife.

My friends were already most of the way through with their Guild initiation quests while Skooma and Agnes were already D rank members. Nobody was yet the C rank necessary to start a clan, though, and we were waiting for the currency conversion to potentially pay less gold. Lady Mara did not care and ordered at least one of us to reach C so she could pay.

Next she had Mr. Harlow give us numerous books such as bestiaries and botany guides that described all the wildlife in our and the surrounding regions. There were even a few books for me about different fighting styles in this world that Lady Mara thought might help me learn skills. As much as I would have preferred magic books, I consoled myself with the fact that I could always visit the manor's library myself.

Once this last bit of business was attended to Lady Mara dismissed everyone else to the south wing to find their own rooms with the new maid while she, Mr. Harlow, Ms. Lana, and I went into town. After hearing about my relations and current goods at the Golden Ferry, Lady Mara wanted to visit the establishment. Apparently, back when she was part of the business world, the Golden Ferry was still young.

I spent most of the trip walking along behind either Mr. Harlow or Lana as the pushed Lady Mara's chair. Even though I offered to do the pushing they both argued that it was good for either one's old body or building the other's Strength and Endurance that had risen to fifteen apiece in my absence. Lady Mara simply ordered me to stay close and stay reading.

Luckily, the book was actually a useful encyclopedia about herbs and magical plants. Every time I came across the name of a plant I had already tagged I gained the corresponding information and a little experience. By the time we reached the Golden Ferry my Appraisal skill had reached level five.

My usual clerk just so happened to be working today by the end of the counter once again. This time, though, she had her head down because she was busy with a small stack of paperwork that she seemed to be going over and making revisions in. it honestly seemed like she was proofreading more than anything else.

Walking up to her part of the counter, I lightly knock on the wooden counter top and say, "Guess who."

"Ah, Mr. Hack," she says, looking up at first in surprise and then smiling when she saw me. "I was just in the process of sending someone to find you, among other things. We're holding another auction at the end of the week, this one will have a larger audience because it has been in motion for a while. However, we have received several buying offers already."

Nodding my head slowly, I step to one side so Lana can push Lady Mara up to the counter before I say, "Wonderful, just the kind of setting I was looking for. This is Lady Mara of the Maran House and the young Ms. Lana of the Delai family. The person I am responsible for, as you can see," I add, flicking my gaze up toward my own title. "She needs to learn about business dealings so I am hereby granting ownership of the mana crystal to m'lady and the proceeds will be her start-up."

"Oh, well, then…" the clerk say slowly in surprise, turning her attention from me to the noble ladies beside me and performing a small curtsy. "I'm so sorry I did not recognize you, Lady Mara. You once visited a few of our early auctions and the gold you and your husband spent were of great value to the Golden Ferry at the time. And still is! Hello, Lady Lana, it's a pleasure to meet you," she adds quickly, switching track after the small fumble.

There was a wistful look in the old lady's eyes after hears that but her lips were set in a small smile as she says, "I'm very glad to hear that, thank you. Please, take us somewhere to discuss this mana crystal I have heard so much about. There are also a few other things I would like to discuss with the Golden Ferry. Do you happen to auction real estate?"

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