It would've actually been for the best if we met somewhere else other than this apartment, but Sun Jiao did not look like he had the kind of place that could be said to be satisfactory for the purpose I had in mind. Some apartments had strict rules against cooking because of the fire hazard it might pose.

"Well, I haven't found a place yet because I was just released-"

"-and your first instinct was to find me instead of a place to stay?"

"-so I haven't figured anything out yet as of now, though I guess I'll see if I can find the nearest brothel and spend the- ah! Teacher! Please don't throw me out the window! I haven't even finished my own stew yet! And more importantly, I won't fit through it!"

"Do you promise to behave?"

"Yes," Sun Jiao said. "That was just a joke - but in all honesty I'm not sure where to go right now."

"You don't have any friends or family?"

"My family is long deceased, and as for any friends who would talk to me…" he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, I probably sold them out so they're in prison. Wait - I think one of them has this shack, and if he's in prison, I could break in while he's away…"

I sighed.

Why had I expected anything more from him at this point?

I handed him a few Denarii. "Go find yourself a somewhat passable room."

"Ah, thank you, Teacher," Sun Jiao said, counting the coins twice. "Quite generous of you!"

"Oh no, that's not a gift - you'll be paying me back with the proceeds we get from selling your cooking when you're up to mark," I told him. I didn't know if I would get this upfront investment back in its entirety; but I wasn't about to send him out to live in a cardboard box. "Also, there are a few errands I need you to run…"

I began listing out items that I would need for my departure - and while that was still some time away, I wanted to be ready with some of the things that I knew were nonperishable. "Also, see if you can find one of these in some stationary store," I told him, holding up the fountain pen I'd gotten. I had asked the guild before this, though they said that they didn't usually arrange for stationary, and it looked like I'd have to run around the city looking through stores trying to find one.

Or… I could have Sun Jiao do it for me. Hey, I was helping him out, it was the least he could do. "This one's nib is broken, but you understand how it works, right?" I explained to him how the ink reservoir worked and he seemed to get the idea.

"Ah, but isn't this too much to do in one day?"

"I didn't say that I want it all tomorrow, only that I want you to search for it whenever you get time," I told him.

"I see, and, if you don't mind me asking - why do you want all these things? Are we going somewhere? Like up into the secluded mountains where you'll have me meditate on the meaning of life or something?"

"'We' are not going anywhere," I told him. "I'm leaving the capital in a few weeks for Hitutsa, and I'll need that stuff when I head out."

"You're leaving?! What about my training?"

"Don't worry - that much time is more than enough to get you on your feet," I told him. "After that, it's just going to be your experience that guides you forward."

I had been half expecting him to ask to follow me, but he didn't. I guess he had something tying him down to the capital - or more likely he didn't want to leave the country.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The day of reckoning for him, so to speak, came four days later.

"T-Teacher, did we really have to get up this early?" Sun Jiao whined.

"Look around you - are there any other people selling food at this time?"

"No, so why are we-"

"-and so, we control the market right now," I said to him. "You can make money selling lunch and dinner, but people also want a quick breakfast as well."

We had purchased a small stall, where there was a small fire smoldering and smoking a small row of fish. The smell was already spreading out wide, and I knew that we would soon attract a few customers. "Raise the fish a bit more, you're overcooking them slightly."

While Sun Jiao was cooking, I was overseeing him, a Rank Three grimoire in my lap which I was more than halfway done with. It was a bit hard to do two things at once, though thankfully this grimoire wasn't too complicated, even with me having to rely on my translation device.

"Don't we need a permit to be here?" he asked after a few minutes had passed.

I pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him. I couldn't read what was on it, but it was a license to open up this stall, written in both the human and lizardmen script of Chipker. "See?"

Sun Jiao probably also couldn't read a good portion of it, but could make out the seal at the bottom. "Is that a real license?"

"Yes, can't you tell?"

"No, I haven't seen a real one before," Sun Jiao said. "I had seen one that had been forged… and I would sometimes have to bribe the guards to look the other way for some of the things I did… how did you get this so fast?"

"There are benefits to being a Rank Three Liberomancer," I told him. I had been expecting it to be somewhat of a bureaucratic mess to get a license like this, after all, whether it was in this world or on Earth, one thing that was constant was that people hated bureaucracy and usually for good reasons. However, much like the time I had gone to seek an audience with the king, my problem was expedited the moment they saw the purple sash I was wearing, and it ended up taking less than ten minutes. I didn't even have to pay a fee given I wasn't employing more than five people.

Sun Jiao sighed. "Yes, yes, I know! I only wish I could also be a Rank Three Liberomancer one day - or even just a Rank Two! It would make things so much easier…"

I understood his concern - Rank One spells were, quite honestly speaking, majorly useless, and the jump to Rank Two was quite immense. That said, I didn't want to imagine what kind of mischief he might get himself into if he had something like [Invisibility] that he could use. Also, Rank One was more than enough to make a living - he had ruined his reputation by his own hands, which is why he couldn't.

"You're right," I told him. "The rules are unfair." I had noticed that within a few months of coming to this world. "Only thing is; now they are unfair in my favor."

Sun Jiao gave me an exasperated look. "You can be extremely cruel and callous sometimes, Teacher."

I shrugged. "It is how it is. I don't have the power or influence to change it right now - and neither do you. I can only tell you how things are, not how they should be." I got up to check on what he was doing. "Okay, this is good, but add a bit more salt. No, that's not enough, at least double that."

"Won't it taste bad?"

"What did I tell you about lizardmen palates? They prefer more salt."

"Are we really selling to lizardmen though?"

"Who else do you think will want to buy some fish at the crack of dawn?" I asked him. Many humans also ate fish practically with every meal, if only for the fact that it was such a staple given the region's proximity to the sea. It was a bit less so in the capital than in Arconia simply because we weren't close to a major river or the coastline, but there were several fish farms around the area, and a large amount of fish was imported into the city every single day mainly due to the tastes of the lizardmen.

Still, most humans would probably have something along the lines of flatbread or soup for breakfast rather than fish. And so, it made sense to target lizardmen rather than humans this early on in the morning.

Despite it being early, we were getting a lot of traffic near our stall - this was not by coincidence, as I had noted the street got a good amount of people passing through it even in the wee hours of the morning. And as they headed out to work, they would without a doubt notice our stall.

A perfect place to set things up!

And it wasn't like lizardmen were our only potential customers, as we weren't just selling fish. Perhaps it was because the two people running the stall were humans, but it was a human who was our first customer.

"Can I get a cup of tea please?" he asked. "And one for my friend?"

"Sure," Sun Jiao said.

We had made a large pot before cooking the fish before hauling the pot with us to the stall - and by 'we' I meant that I had told Sun Jiao to do it while I slept in an extra hour.

There were two tables set up in front of the stall for dining, as well as a few chairs - one of which I was using while I was reading.

"Look at that, our first sale!" Sun Jiao said.

"Yes," I said, taking the money that had been left on the counter. Sun Jiao frowned. "I told you I would get the money for your room and board back. Anyway, after that's been paid for, you can keep it - and also pay for your room yourself then."

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