Mythran's Master Of All

“You know Jen wanted you to stay and keep talking, right?” Teepo asked.

“Yeah, that's why I left.” Ren said. “Plus, I need to get to the mansion and let the people know they have actual beds to sleep in.”

“You could have slept in Jen's bed.” Teepo chittered in laughter.

“Teepo. No teasing me about it.” Ren said. “I took teasing her a little too far.”

“She was pretty receptive to your charms.” Teepo said. “I think you caught her off-guard.”

“No doubt.” Ren said and chuckled. “Once I realized she liked handy men...”

“She was putty in your hands.” Teepo suggested.

“More like molten metal.” Ren said. “I have a feeling she'd give me a run for my money in bed.”

“300 platinum wasn't enough of a run for her?” Teepo asked.

“I'd say that definitely got the ball rolling.” Ren said, and came around the corner to the mansion. He went to the front door and the soldiers stationed there stared at him. He walked up to the door and opened it himself. The lobby and hallways were still full of people, and they were pretty loud with everyone talking at once. The ones closest to the door looked at him.

How do I get everyone's attention?

“Use the Water Spray ring.” Teepo said, and chittered in laughter again. “That will get their attention.”

And piss them off. Ren smiled. A non-invasive way would be better.

“Then just stand here.” Teepo said. “Look.”

Ren did as he said, and the ones closest to the door had turned and told the next people, and the word spread to everyone quickly, and soon everyone was looking at him.

Damn, it worked. Thanks, Teepo.

“Like I did anything.” Teepo said.

You made me stay still and not act like a yelling fool. Ren thought, and he felt Teepo's gratitude.

Once it was quiet enough, Ren spoke.

“Everyone! If I could have your attention, please!” Ren spoke loudly, and it carried in the high ceiling room. “I bought half of the Housing District this morning, and had a Refugee Center built on the land. It's mostly finished, with the exception the beds are being made right now. It's just rooms and beds, and it only has one kitchen and living room; but, at least it will be somewhere you can actually lay in a bed until the city is repaired.”

“How long is that going to take?”

“Ms. Nacide said about 2 weeks.”

“We can't wait 2 weeks!” Someone shouted.

“2 weeks is to have all of it repaired.” Ren said. “I'm going to assume that as each of the houses are fixed or built, you'll be able to return to them.”

“That's not too bad.” Someone said.

“It would be nice to sleep on a bed, instead of the floor again.” Someone else said.

“Yeah, this floor is harder than my wife's baked bread.”

“Hey!” The wife said, a slap was heard, and several people laughed.

“Gather your things, if you have any with you.” Ren said. “By the time you walk up to the Housing District, all of the beds should be ready for you.”

People started to walk towards the door and Ren stepped aside to let them pass. He smiled and nodded to each one as they spoke to him.

“Thank you.” “Thanks.” “This was nice of you.” “Come and visit me.”

Ren blinked at the woman, as she blew him a kiss and kept walking.

“I think you're drawing a lot more attention than you usually do.” Teepo said. “Since I can see everyone, I know it's not the Trouble recipe.”

I think it's my Prince Charming title; but it's not like I have a choice what some random woman will do. Ren thought, then nodded at the next person to speak to him. I can reduce the size of my Aura by storing the cloak; but my personal Aura is at 50 feet now, and it's always on. I can concentrate on different aspects of it, but that's it.

“I'm starting to be surprised you don't have a trail of women following you wherever you go.” Teepo chittered in laughter. “You know quite a lot of them now.”

Ren smiled. That would be a little daunting. He thought. I'd be like a Pied Piper for women.

“A pied what?”

Ren told Teepo the story of the Pied Piper, who was hired to lure all of the rats out of a city by blowing a flute, and when the city didn't pay, instead of sending the rats back, he lured the children away instead. Teepo was quiet for a few minutes as more people passed and greeted Ren.

“Oh, I get it now. Little Ren is the flute.” Teepo said, and Ren coughed and sputtered.

“Are you all right?” Rosie asked as she stepped out of line.

“I... I'm fine.” Ren said, and cleared his throat. “My throat is just a little dry.”

“I can get you a glass of water, if you need one.” She offered as her grandmother stepped out of line, too.

“No, thank you.” Ren said. “I'm okay now.”

“I'm glad.” Rosie smiled, then put a serious look on her face. “You've done so much for the city.”

Ren looked at her with concern on his face. “Please tell me you didn't lose your house.”

“We didn't, thanks to you.” Rosie smiled. “There's still damage, though. We lost the front door for some reason...” Rosie gave Ren a stern look, and his face flushed a little red. “...and one of the rooms upstairs is gone; but the books in the study are fine, and we weren't home.”

Ren tried to remember which house it was, but he'd worked on so many of them that it was just a blur. “Wait, how did you know the door was because of me?”

“I was walking Grandmother home from the Library, and saw you down the street.” Rosie said. “I didn't come over and say anything, because you were so busy.”

“You could have said something.” He said. “I'd have replaced the door for you at least.”

Rosie chuckled. “I couldn't let Grandmother stay in a house missing her room.”

Ren turned to her Grandmother. “I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner.”

“You stopped the house from burning down, sonny.” The woman laughed. “And we weren't in it, so it's all good.”

Love this novel? Read it on NovelFire to ensure the author gets credit.

“I'm really glad you weren't home.” Ren said. “I was at a few homes where people were.”

“We know.” She said, and turned around as the group of people Ren had personally saved came over.

“We really can't thank you enough.” A woman said. “You rescued us, healed others, and then brought us to safety.”

“I was glad to help.” Ren said.

“Now you're giving us shelter.” She shook her head. “You've done so much for us already. What's left for you to do?”

“I... really shouldn't say...” Ren hedged.

“Okay, now you have to tell us.” Rosie said. “Don't make me ask you twice.”

Ren smiled sheepishly. “While I was talking to Ms. Nacide, she told me that the repairs would be coming out of the townspeople's taxes.”

Everyone stopped walking, and turned to look at him with shock on their faces.

“It's WHAT?!?” Rosie yelled.

“The money is supposed to come out of your taxes.” Ren said and took her hand. “You'd never be able to pay for the repairs that way, though.”

“Of course not!” Rosie exclaimed. “This much damage... it... it must be...”

“A few hundred platinum.” Ren tried to whisper, but with everyone so close, they all heard him clearly. Several gasps followed his statement, and one woman fainted.

“Oh my god.” Rosie said, shocked. “What... what will we do?”

“Don't worry about it. It's all okay.” Ren told them. “I took care of it.”

“You WHAT?!?” Rosie yelled again.

“I paid the repair fees already.” Ren explained. “No one will need to...” He looked around as everything went quiet and silence filled the space. The people stared at him and his face flushed a little red again.

“You paid...” Rosie took a deep breath and continued. “You paid a few hundred platinum to fix the city.” She said. “Why would you do that?”

“I didn't want the townspeople to suffer higher taxes that they can't afford, especially right after this disaster.” Ren said. “Getting through the fire was bad enough, but if you had to pay for it, too...” He shook his head. “I couldn't let that happen.”