Caesar opened his thin lips as he ill.u.s.trated a rather simplistic picture onto a piece of parchment. "We are known as a weapons company, however, it is time to broaden our a.r.s.enal," he said, "even weapons have their limits when it comes to business, thus, we should also dabble into masonry."
When Caesar had been taught history in his university cla.s.ses, many innovations on earth occurred during the dark ages. One of which was the flying b.u.t.tress which shook the architectural world at the time.
Although he wasn"t very well-versed in masonry, such a simple concept was easily manageable for someone of Caesar"s caliber. It was merely a specific form of b.u.t.tress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great ma.s.s.
Caesar didn"t plan to make much money off of this invention, instead, it would serve as a face. The number of funds funneling into the company would arouse suspicious from all over the world. Thus, he required something to deter them from finding his underground weapons business.
With this in mind, the design slowly formed onto the piece of paper and showcased itself to both Danny and Veronica. They were both somewhat bewildered by the fact that it was not a weapon, but not entirely disappointed.
"A form of architecture?" Danny asked, "I thought you were mainly interested in weapons, not anything else." Danny paused for a moment as he glanced at Caesar"s squinted his eyes, "d-don"t get me wrong, I too am interested in masonry."
Veronica at the side nodded her head at Danny"s words, she was confused by the revelation as well. Although she possessed basically no knowledge about engineering, she was still well-versed in business. As such, she didn"t understand why a weapons business would turn into a construction one.
Caesar knew of their confusion and quickly explained, "as I said before, this is merely a face. Wouldn"t you find it odd if our business sold nothing but illegal weapons and gained an absurd amount of funds… other kingdoms and those of influence would easily pinpoint our location."
"Anyhow, let me explain this to you in simple terms," Caesar turned toward Danny and pointed at the ill.u.s.tration with his slender finger, "The defining, practical characteristic of a flying b.u.t.tress is that it is not in contact with the wall it supports. It transmits the lateral forces across the span of intervening s.p.a.ce between the wall and the pier."
As he spoke to here, he could see Danny nod, thus, he continued his explanation until Veronica seemed to doze off on the side. They extended their meeting for a long while and even talked into the dead of night. Finally, after Danny could replicate Caesar"s idea with words and ill.u.s.trations, they decided to end it.
Veronica at the side breathed a sigh of relief and scurried away at her quickest speed. She was not at all interested in engineering, nor did she understand much of it. She merely stayed to impress Caesar and hopefully earn a pay-raise in the future.
After she left the library, Caesar escorted Danny out of the palace and handed him the sketches of the flying b.u.t.tress. "Danny, you trust me, yes?" Caesar asked as he wrapped his arm around Danny"s shoulders, waiting for a reply.
Danny hesitantly nodded his head and gulped down a mouthful of saliva, "excellent, well, I trust you as well. Thus, I need you to do a few things for me" Caesar said, "as a businessman, I must make sure that none my merchandise is stolen and acquired by my enemies… you understand what I"m saying, correct?"
Danny once again nodded his head as a few droplets of sweat rained down his face, "y-yes, I"ll be sure that no one leaks out this confidential information… please don"t worry." Danny replied and subtly removed Caesar"s arms around his shoulder, also escaping to his home at the northern side of Rahvin kingdom.
Caesar observed his retreating back with a slight smile, he needed to make sure that none of his employees betrayed him. Although he had already presumed that a few of the mightier factions have reverse-engineered his inventions to a certain extent, they still weren"t masters at it yet.
Being a boss was a lot more troublesome than most commoners thought it was. Many fools thought that all boss did was sit around and have his workers do all of the work. However, although that was true to a certain extent, it was wrong in many cases.
Marketing was the key to business, however, the product was the key-hole. If everyone and their mother knew how to make his wares, then it would no longer be necessary for customers to buy from him. Thus, he needed to guard it with every fiber of his being, even if it meant cutting off the tongue of those who disobeyed this rule.
Caesar had long created a contract for the employees to sign, as such, if they were to ever backstab him, the consequences would be immense. Holding the position of a boss, king, ruler, or anything that oversaw and managed a group of people required you to be ruthless and a.s.sertive.
If you were easily trampled on, then your efforts would be wasted and killed off by a few already solidified giants. After all, a threat without foundation would be easily eliminated. Such was the law of the world and a code that Caesar lived by.
After a few moments of contemplation, Caesar fixed his collar and headed back into the palace. He was busy all day and had forgotten to spend time with Elizabeth, let alone buy the gifts he had promised her. A deep sigh escaped from his lips as he walked through the long corridors and reached his room.
He knew that Ahri was in the room and figured he could hopefully relieve some stress as long as she was in the mood. However, his hopes were crushed as he was greeted by a little girl with a wide smile plastered on her face.
She rushed up to him and ran circles around his feet whilst giggling, "mother told me that you had bought some gifts for me!" she said energetically and looked at Caesar hopefully. Her hands tugged on his suit and a little frosting was stuck on the side of her lips.
Caesar glanced at Elizabeth before advertising his eyes and shifting his attention to Ahri, who was smiling apologetically on the bed. A few books, pieces of paper, and other learning material were scattered across the floor and it appeared as though Ahri was teaching the young la.s.s some things.
He nodded his head appreciatively and tried to think hard about anything neat that he had collected within his storage ring. Soon, an idea donned itself upon him and he took out the extra magic accessory that he had received a while ago.
A vermillion red gem was embedded deeply into the silver earring and gleamed brightly, attracting Elizabeth"s attention. Ahri at the side looked at Caesar reproachfully as she s.n.a.t.c.hed the earring from Elizabeth"s hands.
"You are far too young to pierce your ears, let alone use a magic accessory," Ahri said sternly, "you have not yet even unlocked the mana within your body, and this could potentially harm you greatly."
As she spoke to here, she took off the blue necklace around her neck and handed it to Elizabeth. "Here sweetheart, let me trade you… blue looks much more beautiful on you then it does on me," she said with a smile and placed the earring on her other ear, matching the one she already possessed.
Elizabeth was at first stumped, but she was soon entranced by the blue necklace and waved it around happily. She thanked both Caesar and Ahri hundreds of times before slowly tiring herself out and drifting off to sleep on the bed.
As she fell asleep, both Caesar and Ahri entered into their sleepwear and joined her on the bed, letting her sleep between them. Their rhythmic breathing resounded throughout the room before Ahri finally spoke, "you forgot to buy her something, didn"t you."
Silence momentarily descended upon the room before Caesar grunted in acknowledgment and turned on to his side. Although he was somewhat bitter that she so easily gave away the necklace that he had proposed to her with, he was mature enough to get over such silly things. Besides, it was mostly his fault for forgetting something so important.
Another sigh escaped from Caesar"s mouth as he drifted off to sleep, temporarily forgetting his current troubles.