There wasn’t much to do in the morning, except to visit the bank. I had no appointments, so I did a quick exercise routine in the garden, then got ready to visit the bank. I was even looking forward to it. Fabia and I took a carriage to the bank.

  The Bank of Decharte was a country wide corporation. It had branches in all cities. There were even some in the larger towns. The bank itself was backed by the King and Crown Prince, so the whole country would have to default before the bank. The bank’s local branch’s building was a very ornate 2 story building. It had tall columns in front reaching up to the roof, a stone mural wrapped around the top level, and gargoyles everywhere. It even had a crown on the top, to signify its association with the King.

  The meeting with the bank manager went well. After I mentioned how much I wanted to deposit (10,000 gold), I was given a guided tour of the entire building and its security features. The vault was a small hallway. It was a fa?ade that led to a secure dimensional space, that was shared by all bank branches. Inside were both living guards and golems. All unauthorized access was dealt with by immediate execution. The manager also showed me other security features that including a magical video surveillance system. There were guards everywhere in the building, including the manager’s office. Security wasn’t playing around.

  The bank manager’s office was very plush. There was a couch and stuffed chair around a coffee table. When we sat down, the manager’s assistance brought us tea. Business can’t be done without tea in this world. The ceremony of drinking tea represents a personal relationship between the participants. It was supposed to instill confidence that there was more than just a business arrangement and a certain level of friendship was there.

  I opened three accounts. A personal account that only I had access to; a Covern Household account that Gabriel had access to; and an account for the shop, which Fabia had access to. In my personal account, I deposited 10,000 gold. I put 100 gold in both other accounts.

  The bank issued me a small black rectangular block. It had my name on it and could be used to ‘charge’ against my account, much like a credit card. I also received two blue blocks. One for Gabriel and one for Fabia for their respective accounts. Since there was no electronics in Tellus, these worked by using magic. I don’t know how the magic worked, but I was assured it worked. I noticed that the bank certainly likes it magic. Besides the lights and indoor plumbing at Covern House, this was the first obvious use of magic I experienced. I would have expected magic to be more prevalent in the day-to-day activities, but apparently labor was cheap and magic was expensive. Economics seems consistent in both worlds.

  I talked to the Bank Manager about who did his security. I mentioned that I just received Covern House and wanted to increase my magical security and how impressed I was with the banks. The Bank Manager was pleased with my compliment their security and provided the names of the mages who were responsible for the magical security.

  I didn’t have any other pressing issues to take care of, so I decided to head home. The bank manager arranged for a carriage. Apparently, when you deposit over 10,000 gold, you get really good service. I told Fabia to contact the security mages and have them come by to meet with me, as soon as possible. With assassins after me, I was very eager to increase Covern House’s defenses, both magical and mundane.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  I arrived home and immediately went to my study/library. I had no appointments for the rest of the day. I wanted to work on my magic, needed to make a plan to deal with the assassins, and wanted to find a way to advertise my business. Actually, I decided I was going to have Fabia work on the latter two. Today was magic research day.

  First, I asked Gabriel to send in Fabia. When she got there, we had a discussion on increasing the defenses of Covern House, including getting guards. She would ask around about getting reliable guards, but warned it might take a few days. As for advertising, she was already getting requests for appointment, but hadn’t scheduled anything because I needed to let her know what problems I was willing to take.

  I told her “Right now, accept diseases and major wounds. Curses and poisons should also be accepted. In-office appointments for non-nobles and preferably in the morning hours. House calls (which I had to explain, because the translation magic screwed it up) to nobles, starting at 50 gold. I don’t want to go to a noble’s residence for a head cold, but for 50 gold, I would. I could start taking clients day after tomorrow, unless it is an emergency, then I would do it tomorrow.”

  That being taken care of, Fabia left the office and I was alone. Alone with my magic books and research. I spent the next few hours reading my magic books and taking notes. The notes mostly consisted of questions that the books raised but didn’t answer. It was frustrating, because there were a lot of notes. None of my books gave more than a passing mention of spell tomes and how to use them, but absolutely nothing about how to create them. I really wanted to be able to do that, so I could trade spells with other mages.

  I continued reading my books until Gabriel came in and announced the security mages had arrived. I didn’t expect them today, but I was quite glad the did. I asked Gabriel to bring them into my office.

  There were three security mages. Two female and one male. Their names were Agonia, Partic, and Fraddic, respectively. There were dressed in the same style, robes of red and yellow. I greeted them and asked them to sit.

  “The Bank Manager highly recommended you to me, when I asked about security mages. Did you do all the security magic at the bank?” I asked.

  Partic replied “Yes. All the security related magic, but not all the magic. Lights and temperature control are not our forte.”

  “Excellent. I am interested in adding magic defenses and monitoring to Covern House. Would you be interested?”

  Agonia replied “We would be interested. Do you have any ideas what you want?”

  “Well, I am not sure what is available, so I would like to discuss what options are available, if that is okay.”

  “Of course,” said Fraddic. “We would be delighted to tell you what we can provide, but it would be best if we can get a tour of the property. We can give you a better informed opinion after that.”

  Needless to say, I gave them a tour of the property. I emphasized that protecting the people in the house was the priority rather than things. They seemed to appreciate my attitude. After the tour, we returned to my office.

  “The first thing you should know, is this will not be cheap” Partic said. I didn’t expect it to be cheap, so that wasn’t going to be a problem.

  We got down to discussing the various levels of defense that they could provide Covern House. Intrusion detection and prevention were the main security magics I bought. The mages also had a privacy magic that was perfect for my work office. So, I bought it also. This way I could give my clients confidentiality when they visited.

  The price was 15 gold for the entire package, which I considered a steal. I also asked if they had any medical issues and offered to try and fix. Fraddic had asthma. I cast Diagnose and confirmed it, then used Cure All and Heaven’s Heal to cure it.

  The mages assured me they would begin tomorrow morning and be done in two days. After they left, I went in search of a snack.