“I thought you said I wouldn’t be wet.” Aurelius grumbled, as he staggered out from the waves, adjusting to the steady ground of land from the turbulence of the sea journey.

  While Pultris had managed to create a small air-bubble around him during the journey to shore, it wasn’t perfect, with water colliding against the bubble and submerging him at inopportune times.

  “Does it even matter for you? You know of the repulsion spell.” Pultris replied mischievously.

  Rolling his eyes, Aurelius decided to use the spell of repulsion, but caught himself.

  “Manus, aqua- WHAT AM I DOING?” Aurelius shrieked, remembering the state that his shoes and socks had ended up mere hours prior. He would have made his clothes grating, stiff and impossible to wear.

  It could have been possible that he was forced to trek through the wilds in his birthday suit!

  “A pity that you didn’t commit to your decision. Perhaps it shows your weakness as well.” Pultris commented in disappointment.

  Aurelius glared to himself at the comment, just continuing to shake the residual water off his body, and emptying the remnant seawater from his shoes.

  Then, with squelching feet, Aurelius started to walk along the rocky beaches of the Western continent towards the city and its ports.

  ???

  The outskirts of Michinteo was a quiet, reserved place.

  There was a constant and salty breeze that permeated the air which was pleasant in the warmer weathers of the Western continent.

  A uniqueness of the city of Michinteo lay in the fact that it was built as two halves, with a large river separating its mid-section.

  The river mouth directly connected many vessels inland, towards a few inner cities, and this led trade to flourish in the city. In comparison, the river running through the city of Tlacualtzin could be seen as a small stream, or canal.

  Rain was commonplace given the coastal region that it sat in, meaning that there were also quite a bit of sheltered walkways in residential areas.

  Aurelius would personally have liked to experience rain in the city about now, to attempt to wash off the salt in his clothes and reattempt the water repulsion spell, as he had done with his socks and shoes on the submarine earlier.

  However, the weather was tauntingly sunny today…

  Aurelius was relatively lucky, however, in the regard that there was a small bank in the particular block of the city that he had stumbled upon.

  While he looked rather deranged from his journey on the submarine and given rather premium salt hair treatment by the ocean winds, he was sure that such a sleepy branch in the fringes of the city would not particularly mind…

  “Good afternoon…” Aurelius greeted sheepishly, running his hand through his hair to make himself… look a little less homeless.

  “My goodness! You’re sopping wet! Did you fall off the piers?” The clerk asked in shock and concern.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  She was a middle aged and rather unremarkable woman, with deep crinkles in her eyes showing her humorous nature.

  “Haha… Something like that!” Aurelius laughed heartily, bowing slightly to greet the nice lady behind the counter.

  The bank was rather small, with a single counter, 5 waiting chairs, and felt rather cramped, but it was still neat, and had the air of bank-like professionalism.

  “I’ve come to withdraw some money…” Aurelius started bashfully.

  ???

  The biggest banks in Teotlcan were managed by a few Royal families, but smaller branches were allowed to exist under their purview and run by merchants.

  This was a result of a banking crisis around 80 years ago, where unsustainable, and foolish lending practices led to a financial crisis across the continents.

  This led to the Royals stepping in to snatch the banking sector with their authority, monopolising the sector under themselves.

  However, the move was not done in a vacuum, with the Magic Commission and the Churches only allowing the acquisitions with a few conditions attached to them.

  These moves were seen as an overreach of power by the three factions by the public, leading to an intervention by the Ethics Committee at the Commission.

  However, due to the urgency of the economic situations at the time, and the lack of viable alternatives, the committee was forced to allow the acquisitions to go through.

  Nonetheless, the intervention by the Ethics Committee still did much to quell public dissent as they forcibly attached their own restrictions on banking, such as the banning of predatory lending practices, and collateralization of souls.

  But of all these massive reforms that sent ripples through the livelihoods of every household a mere 80 years ago, what was important for Aurelius lay in the consolidation of ledgers among all banks.

  Under a unified system managed with magic by the Magic Commission (for which the Royals paid a subscription fee), one could withdraw their money across the entirety of Teotlcan regardless of their banking partner.

  “2 gold… That’s 1% of my savings! Those damn royals are sucking me dry!” Aurelius grumbled angrily, as he left the branch.

  “I believe they do pay quite a lot to maintain the Commission ledgers. And for a cheapskate like you, you would usually not face such fees from withdrawing at your affiliated branches.” Pultris commented, unconcerned for Aurelius’s situation.

  “But it’s 1% and they still share the same Commission Backed Ledger System[CBLS]!” Aurelius pouted continuously, completely in mourning for his lost money.

  “Haa… I’m sure you earned a lot more than that from their interest payments.” Pultris retorted in irritation.

  “Once again, it’s TWO gold coins!” Aurelius started, launching into a mad rant about the importance of fiscal responsibility.

  As he walked, the buildings and their walls grew taller, and the city noises became more vibrant.

  Magi-cars and the occasional horses or beasts prowled the streets, and Aurelius attracted more and more attention with his… wetness.

  He currently had a pocket filled with around 10,000 Confederate Pounds (equivalent to 200 Central Gold coins) at the moment, which made him feel even more conspicuous than he likely was.

  In this regard, Aurelius decided that he had had enough.

  Entering a small mall, Aurelius quickly found a bathroom, entered the handicapped stall(shamelessly) and doused himself in freshwater.

  “Manus, aqua me tege; naturae cede.” Aurelius chanted, after enough of the salt had detached themselves from his clothes.

  “Are you going to clean up the floor?” Pultris commented, referring to the absolute mess that he had made of the handicap stall.

  Aurelius considered this for a moment.

  After all, this rather inconsiderate display could trip a poor, disabled soul sometime in the near future…

  “Manus, aqua me tege; naturae cede.” Aurelius chanted again, this time, directed at the floor of the bathroom.

  This gave the water a little more ‘flexibility’, and created a scenario of water being able to more freely enter the drain.

  However, in the spots that were now dry remained… mysterious residue.

  Aurelius had to admit that the salt from the ocean that had dripped out of him was definitely not giving the stall an artistic feel with its disturbing whiteness and crustiness.

  With the half-hearted job done, Aurelius opened the door shamelessly and started to slink away from his responsibility.

  As he stepped away, however, he could see from the corner of his eyes that there was a fast approaching man, clearly in urgent need of the bathroom.

  And as he walked forward straight out of the mall, he could swear that he heard the door close behind him, and close quietly…

  “This is hilarious.” Pultris commented helpfully.

  Aurelius could only cough awkwardly into his coffers, feeling a flush in his cheeks for a crime that he did not commit.

  “...Time to find a tavern.” He declared, deciding to ignore the comment entirely