Chương 7: Talk to the cat

"Did you know about the veins?" I asked at once.

"No. What I said on the phone was true. We had no idea," he answered without any hesitation.

"Why send me this case?"

"Because it was unusual."

"Look, I know all Frumentarii tend to speak in riddles, but I didn't come here to untangle them. I know you and my father knew something," I said, leaning forward in the chair. The cat sighed in resignation.

"Honestly, all we knew was that your father had some sort of plan."

"Oh, come o—" I started to speak before he cut me off.

"Let me finish, and then you can whine," he snapped.

"Look, the theory that magic will return was just that—a theory. And after two thousand years without anything happening, the idea was practically forgotten." The cat paused, locking eyes with me.

"Even those who practice magic do so sparingly these days."

"Don't dramatize. It's not like magic would die with our generation," I said in return.

"I'm talking about the mindset. Even families with massive resources left are—well, what's the word?" He paused for a second, closing his eyes, looking for the correct description.

"'Defeatist.' They teach their children a glorious history, knowing they are but a shadow of it." I nodded.

"So what? You guessed something was up because my father acted differently?" I almost burst out laughing at the idea.

"Well… not entirely. Reading anything from your father was… hard. He was…" The cat stopped, looking a bit uncomfortable, as if he was struggling to find the right words.

"A madman," I offered.

"I know. With all my love for the man—or what was left of him—you don't have to sugarcoat it. He was a madman."

"Yes—a genius in the art of magic. But a madman," Q'Shar agreed, smiling a bit.

"Look at it from our perspective. The world of magic shook when your father created you. After 1300 years of life, he finally got an heir. Not only that, but he burned through half of your family's resources to train you. Your rise in power was similar to a mage in the mythical era. Not to mention, your bank account was practically cleared out for test sites and travel."

The cat paused for a breath as I remembered my childhood—magic, books, and traveling to distinguished groups around the world to learn about their ways. Old servants carrying my father to secret places to be shown the ways of the dead of Egypt, the alchemy of English witches, the Japanese spirit arts, and many more. Those were good times. The cat continued, breaking me out of the quick trip down memory lane.

"When you came along and were raised that way, some took it as a sign that something massive would happen, since your father wanted a well-trained apprentice. Some even started to prepare for another war, but then what no one could predict happened."

"My father died."

"Yes, and for a couple of years, nothing happened. People thought that was the end of it. Whatever held him clinging to life was running out, and he decided to pass on the knowledge out of desperation." The cat lowered his voice into a conspiratorial whisper.

"But only a few people knew about the technology holding him alive."

"You knew?" I asked, surprised. The cat chuckled knowingly.

"Information's my specialty. I helped your father with the cover-up." The technology was a dangerous secret. To reveal it to someone was a massive show of trust. If leaked, we would have the entire world after us.

"If your father's life support ran out, that meant it was meant to. I assumed that when he made the deal with the Yith, they wouldn't just let him live forever. He probably bargained for a specific amount of time or a specific event…"

"You thought my father made a deal to live until the time of myth returned," I finished, slowly nodding my head.

"No—the return of magic was thought impossible. We assumed something like a god descending or another war. So, for all twenty-six years of your life, we kept our eyes and ears open for anything unusual." I chuckled at the thought.

"And instead, we all ran headfirst into the return of the age of magic." A silence settled between us as we both took that in.

"So, when will it happen, and do others know?" I finally spoke.

"The answers are… we don't know, and we still don't know. But I don't think anyone else noticed." The cat put on a smile.

"Well… we might learn something, but information like that costs." If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Out with it." I groaned internally, dreading the coming negotiations.

"We want you to sign an official contract with this branch. Don't worry, I can guarantee the best information for the best price." The previously mysterious cat now sounded more like a used-car salesman.

"You want to tie our names together?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, we are willing to take that risk."

"But that also makes me your official backer, so if you pull something, people might pester me about it."

"Even if we, as you say, 'pull something,' wouldn't you help anyway?" He tilted his head a bit.

"Well, you are not completely wrong..." I had to think for a second. It would mean tying myself to this branch of Frumentarii, but then again, they never failed me before. Moreover, they had worked with my father before and were used to how my family handled things.

"Throw in a clause that if you can't provide something, I can seek out other brokers."

"Deal!" The cat, now seemingly my partner, shouted excitedly.

"That was quick," I said, surprised at the lack of drawn-out negotiations the cats were known for.

"Did you scam me? Because that would be a nasty way to start a partnership."

"No, I wouldn't do that. Buuuuut, if your infamous family makes a return, then that would be the best deal of my life." He smiled like a Cheshire cat.

"It's not about the money. It's about who your backer is."

"Using my name to lean on others?" I raised my eyebrows.

"Exactly," the cat purred, pretty proud of himself.

"And don't pretend like you won't benefit from this." I leaned forward a bit.

"Okay, so I made the deal. Now, what do you know?"

"Well, we sent a couple of cats, who know how to keep their mouths shut, out to the site to study the vein, and we have some initial information. We got our paws on research into mana veins, and although they were a mystery even thousands of years ago, people theorized about the recovery process. If the mechanism was right but the timeline was off, then it would go like this. First, the smaller veins will reconnect.

The rise in mana will be minuscule, but in around a year, some magic should be felt everywhere, with some weaker artifacts awakening. Until the big event." The creature made a dramatic pause.

"The main pathways connect, and shit will hit the fan," I finished absentmindedly.

"When?"

"Hard to say. The main pathways are much bigger than the veins, so our timeline for now is around two to three years." I could barely imagine the world after that, the artifacts that will awaken, the cryptids that will fight for territories, and the singularities...

"Well, that's going to be interesting to witness."

"Yeah. But for now, you need to buy land over a mana pathway. We can then secure it as headquarters." A private pathway. I practically giggled thinking about all the nasty enchantments one could create if directly powered by something like that. I once heard my grandfather made a spell that would erase the concept of walking from someone's mind. He would then tell them he would spare them if they could get through the door and watch them flop around. I wondered if the spell was in one of my books.

"Looking at that nasty smile, I'm assuming you're thinking about something horrible," the cat said flatly, before switching back to his professional voice.

"Once you own the place, we'll make a claim with the Vatican. Before you arrived, we managed to compile initial info about the possible land." The cat's tail tip danced through a couple of runes, and a scroll levitated from one of the bookshelves toward my lap. I opened it. It was a map of old mana pathways, cross-referenced with the modern-day USA. Most of them were crossed out because they were in places like the high mountains or beneath big cities, but two were on relatively usable land.

One on the east and one on the west coast. There was some preliminary info attached for both of them. Both estates were already owned by companies building storage units or housing projects. But the land between Boston and New York was interesting. It belonged to a large corporation, ES Electric, which had some notable developments. They recently made their move towards the air transport industry, and soon after that, the CEO's daughter was kidnapped around a week ago.

That was common knowledge, with the kidnapping being sold to the public as a typical ransom attempt, but the information I got from my broker was much more interesting. The company had discovered a new technology that should enable the production of electric planes. They quickly patented the technology before anyone could steal it, but that did not sit well with their competition, SkyJet. After ES Electric refused to sell the technology, they finally kidnapped the CEO's daughter.

The man knew that the patent was the only thing keeping her, so they were at a standstill. However, the part about the patented technology was the most interesting in the entire story. The patent was filled with many technical terms, but the section on the material was marked in red, with "Thunderium?" written next to it. It was a thunder-attributed alchemical ingredient that needed mana to obtain its properties. That meant there was most likely a mana vein present in the mine, changing the stone's properties.

"Is there an outside party involved?"

"We don't know. We had been scrambling all night and this morning to get that much info. We would need an alchemist to check it."

"Well then, it's a perfect opening." Still, it felt a bit too convenient for my liking, but I didn't have any alternatives.

"You should get it done as fast as possible," the cat said.

"For now, I think we have an advantage, but soon others will become aware. We should get an invitation to a Common Sabbath, once the Vatican figures it out."

"A Sabbath? Do we have to go?" I asked, dreading the idea.

"You serious? It will be the most important Sabbath since the 'See No Evil, Hear No Evil' law was passed." I sighed.

"So we have to go. But you handle the politics. I don't like haggling."

"Yes, I know. They tend to end up in violence when you are involved," he said flatly. I just shrugged.

"Not my fault."

"Was the incident with the cultivators also not your fault?"

"Yes," I answered immediately.

"If your skin were any thicker, you would be a dragon. Don't worry, you're staying away from politics."

"Good." I nodded. We then talked briefly about our next steps. I also suggested using the vein for a judgment ritual, but the cat refused, waiting for a proper fortune teller to become available. With everything set up, I left my broker's place.