novelraw Chapter 74: The Hands Joji Could Rely On
Chapter 74: The Hands Joji Could Rely On
Joji and Nike stepped out of the room with other matters waiting on them.
First, the witch had no real savings to speak of.
True, she possessed a hoard of rare items, but that was not the same as coin in hand.
Joji had gone on at length about how much it would cost to raise even one child, and by the end of it, she had lowered her head in shame beneath the force of his scolding.
She had wanted hundreds, perhaps even thousands.
Now, she was forced to reckon with what that truly meant.
Even so, with her skills, she hoped she might at least find work under Duchess Rosalind.
Surely a woman like that would have some post fit for her.
Second, Joji wanted to check on Rizz and Walter. By now, they ought to have made some progress.
When he reached the training grounds, he stopped short.
The cavalier knights stood in a tight formation, shields and bodies set as though they were bracing for their greatest enemy.
Opposite them stood Rizz, and astride his back was Head Knight Gregorius.
"Onward, great steed Rizz!" Gregorius roared.
Then the two of them surged forward.
Joji recognized the technique at once. It was the Lightness of the Wind Art.
Yet this was no simple burst of speed. The way Gregorius and Rizz used it together turned it into something greater, not one force added to another, but a true multiplication of power.
The cavalier knights could barely react.
They raised Protectorate Barrier Wind Arts in haste, but Gregorius tore through them with the first art alone.
Rizz charged with him, spitting fire and ice as he went, then shifting his footing with impossible grace.
At times, he did not even seem to rely on his hooves, shaping ice and earth beneath himself to make fresh footholds in the middle of his rush.
"Damn," Joji muttered.
Five minutes later, the knights were in disarray.
Several had been thrown from their mounts, while some of the beasts themselves were left foaming at the mouth.
"Head Knight, this mount is too godly," one knight said, sounding half awed and half aggrieved that Rizz was not his own.
"Such a mount is impossible to guard against, sir. Let us use the phalanx formation from the other day," another said.
"Sir Joji is truly beloved by fortune," a third knight exclaimed. "To have three goddesses for wives and a mount like this by his side. The Pinnaclers truly smiled on that fellow."
A blond man stepped toward him, broad through the shoulders and built like someone bred for armor and hard roads. His face had sharpened since Joji last saw him. A neat mustache sat over a firm mouth, and his eyes had the hard, steady look of a man who had learned to measure danger before speaking. There was nothing soft left in him. He stood straight, proud, every inch a knight.
Joji frowned. He studied the man from head to toe, trying to place him and failing.
"May I know your name?" Joji asked.
The man’s expression tightened in wounded disbelief.
"Joji, it’s me. Walter. How can you forget me? Have your brains turned to mush from spending too much time with your wives?"
Walter sounded aggrieved, though the hurt was not all it seemed. He had already seen the witch, now Nike, perched at Joji’s window despite the height. He still had eyes, after all.
She was the kind of woman a man noticed at once, but he had not let his thoughts wander too far.
A witch like that would never look his way. Better to play the slighted friend.
Truth be told, part of him was secretly pleased that Joji had failed to recognize him.
"You don’t say." Joji rubbed his temple with his knuckles, then looked him over again with fresh interest. "Look at you. All buffed up."
Then he remembered the manual. Without wasting another breath, he pulled out the one he had studied from the Cutler estate and offered it over.
"This is something I got from your estate. I was about to say..."
He stopped short when Walter raised a hand and let green aura gather around him.
Joji’s eyes widened.
"The Head Knight allowed me to study because he saw me working hard," Walter said, unable to keep a trace of pride from his voice.
"I also vowed myself to House Everhart. Do not worry. The duchess spoke to me. He said Alaric and I can leave anytime if you have somewhere else to go."
That made Joji lift a brow. He had expected many things, but not that.
Before he could answer, another figure stepped in.
Alaric.
Something had changed in him too. It showed in the way he carried his weight, in the easy confidence of his stance, in the quiet edge that clung to him like a second blade.
"Noticed something you like?" Alaric asked with a grin.
"Ew, bro. I don’t swing that way," Joji said, pulling a disgusted face.
Alaric barked a laugh.
"It seems you advanced," Joji said.
"Right. I’m an elite knight now." Alaric reached into his things and brought out a heavy pouch, then pressed it into Joji’s hands.
"I pawned the swords we got from Fourteen."
Joji weighed it by feel alone. Heavy. Easily around a thousand gold.
Joji narrowed his eyes and gave him a longer look. The man seemed leaner than before, drawn tight in a way that spoke of more than hard training.
He could almost see where the money had gone. Magic circles were not bought with pride alone, and advancement rarely came cheap.
Alaric had likely fed his savings into that climb, burning through gold just to stand a little taller in his own skin.
Joji let out a quiet sigh. He understood it too well. Fourteen had left a mark on all of them.
Even now, the memory of that fight still stirred the same old inadequacy in his chest.
"What about you?" Joji asked. "Do you have other funds?"
Alaric nodded at once, almost too quickly, then fell silent as he counted it through in his head before giving Joji his answer.
"I still have a nine silver and..."
Joji closed Alaric’s fingers back around the pouch and returned it to him.
This was a real friend, odd in his own ways, but true where it mattered.
Knowing that, Joji chose his next words with care, searching for a way to phrase them so the man would not refuse.
"Pay me back when you have spare to give," Joji said. "That being said, there will be interest, since it is a loan."
Alaric looked ready to refuse. The words were there in his face. Then he glanced at the pouch already back in his hands, and whatever protest he had died there.
He needed the supplements if he wanted to steady his advancement. But Joji had not thrust the gold at him out of pity, nor tossed it over like charity given to a beggar.
That made all the difference. So Alaric accepted it, and did so with what dignity remained to him.
"Well then." Alaric lifted the sack slightly. "A loan it is, then."
Alaric smiled and started to turn on his heel to leave, but Joji’s hand came down on his shoulder and stopped him.
"I actually have job for you, Alaric. It pays well, you just need to show a bit of skin," Joji said.
Joji laid out the plan for him in clear terms, explaining how the demonstration would go and what part Alaric would play when the time came to present the soap.
Walter listened as well, his brows lifting in quiet admiration at the foresight.
Joji had already thought several steps ahead.
Between the two blondes, Alaric easily drew the eye first.
He carried himself better, sharper features, the sort of face that caught attention without trying.
What helped even more was his nature. Alaric did not carry the sour disdain some queer men held toward women.
If anything, he knew exactly how to put them at ease.
Once he started speaking, women tended to warm to him with surprising ease, whether they were young or old.
"But I am a knight," Alaric said, clearly troubled.
Joji shrugged.
"Look, Alaric. Knights can still conduct business, right? How does standing shirtless tarnish your honor?"
"If my armor breaks in battle and I fight bare-chested, does that mean my honor is gone too?"
Alaric scratched the back of his neck.
"Well... if you put it that way, it makes sense. But this is still business. I do not know if I can do it, Joji."
The doubt was plain enough. He was not used to the idea of people staring at him like that.
"Relax," Joji said. "You are not selling yourself in some brothel."
"You are presenting a product. Big difference. Think about it carefully. I will call you in a few days."
Just as Joji turned to leave, Rizz wandered over.
"Sup, y’all. Anything going on?" Rizz asked.
"Yeah," Joji replied easily. "We are about to do some soap business."
"Are you also going to make men’s soap?" Rizz asked.
Joji tilted his head slightly. He knew what the boy meant. Fragrances were not really his field, and his original plan had focused almost entirely on women.
"We are not making men’s soap right now," Joji said. "Why do you ask?"
"I know a bit about these crafts," Rizz said. "Fragrance mixing and things like that. I also do some 3D printing, since I cannot really go outside much."
Joji stopped walking and looked at him properly.
"Can you detail everything you can do?"
Rizz did not hesitate. He went through his skills one by one, explaining his experience with fragrances, the architecture courses he had studied, small engineering projects he had worked on, and the kind of technical work he could manage from inside his room.
"Look, Joji," Rizz added, "I may have only been nineteen back then, but I tried a lot of things. I just had caregivers carry out the work for me."
"Most of them had no real experience, so I had to guide everything myself. And if I am going to work for you, I will need a salary."
Joji studied him quietly.
In his previous life, he was an owner of a large adult film studio and a chain of clinics that tested and treated all kinds of intimate diseases.
The labs alone brought in steady revenue. By the time he died, his net worth had easily climbed into nine figures.
So the boy’s demand did not rattle him.
"That will depend on your performance, Lil Rizz," Joji said with a faint smile.
After settling matters with the others, Joji made his way to Daisy’s room.
He had planned to stay around her study for a while anyway, so he had saved her for last.
He pushed the door open and stepped inside. Lena was there with her.
"What have you two been up to?" Joji asked.
Daisy and Lena did not answer right away. Instead, Lena reached behind Daisy and brought something forward.
Joji took one look and immediately caught the blend. Lavender. Rose. Chamomile. Oats.
He lifted it and gave it a slow sniff.
"This is pretty good," he admitted. "When did you make this?"
Lena rolled her eyes. Joji was annoyingly hard to impress.
"I made it while you and the witch were going at each other," Lena said. Then she rested her hands on Daisy’s shoulders. "Daisy helped me source the materials."
Joji nodded slowly, still turning the soap in his fingers.
"Joji," Daisy spoke up. "I want to quit my job. I don’t see myself earning much if I stay there. I can help you with the administrative work in your business."
Lena immediately pinched Daisy at the side. Daisy stiffened.
"You... you also have to pay me, of course," Daisy added quickly.
Joji gave a small nod.
"A salary is natural. Work and family are always separate from everything else."
Lena then started stripping. She exposed every inch of her skin without a hint of shame to Joji.
She stood before him and let his eyes roam over her body. Lena then pulled on a two-piece that left little to the imagination.
"I’ll be advertising the soap with this," Lena said, striking a casual pose. "What do you think?"
Joji studied her for a moment before shaking his head.
"You aren’t advertising anymore. I have a better model now," Joji said.
He stepped closer and reached out, giving her nipples a pinch without pulling his hand away.
"Can’t you just show that body to me?" Joji said quietly. "I don’t like other people gawking at you."
Lena found herself speechless. Her gaze darted away as her heart raced.
She was already thirsty for his love. Being confronted like this made her hot and bothered.
"Well, since daddy says so," Lena said with a flush.