Cassandra skipped out of the tower, a giant smile on her face. There was this skip in her step that Gaius only associated with happy, full children like Nakama, and by the looks of it, she had probably succeeded in asking him out or something. It was a good first step, by all means, and in a world headed for war, this was a small bright spot in his vision.

“How was it?” Gaius asked.

“Dinner date next week!”

“If he’s a jerk, don’t hesitate to give him the good ol’ one-two, though,” said Gaius. “Don’t let him do what he wants just because he has looks, power and money!”

Cassandra blinked, but before she could respond, the boy had walked into the tower. The interior was brightly decorated, in contrast to its austere exterior. Filled with toys and gadgets that would interest anyone, the tower’s interior was something that made Gaius feel like his physical age. As he walked towards the man in the middle of it all, the boy wondered briefly what the high and mighty of Elinaris thought when they first entered this room.

Was it bewilderment? Interest? Or just plain happiness?

Gaius knew that he would never be able to get the answer to his question, so he didn’t waste his time thinking too hard about it. What interested him the most was the ex-crime lord, the current city lord of Elinaris, Flynn. Or rather, he just wanted to hear how the man actually managed to climb up to such a position within a year or so.

The boy continued to walk forwards, towards the setup in the middle. It was somewhat odd seeing a desk and a chair in the middle of a room full of toys, but there was this inexplicable charm to it. Sitting in the chair was a familiar figure, who was busily looking through papers and stamping on them. A tinkle, one that reminded Gaius of a windchime, rustled through the room as the boy approached.

The figure sitting in the small workplace looked up. “Hello, mister, uh, Gaius. It’s nice to—wait, you’re THAT Gaius? Holy crap, it’s you! It is you, isn’t it?”

“Why are you that surprised?” Gaius asked. “You’re famous. Wouldn’t you expect me to drop by after a while to see how you’re doing? You got some new toys and stuff, and they’re really interesting. After all, I’m pretty much a child, no?”

Or not, but how else am I supposed to get Nakama so much fun toys? And those interesting gadgets? Nexus told me earlier, but some of these toys and gadgets are actually miniature artefacts.

“Y-yeah, I forgot.” Flynn shook his head. “It’s been a while, Gaius.”

“The same to you, City Lord Flynn.” Gaius nodded his head. “I thought you were all about a revolution, stirring up the fires of hatred against House Varita, but it seems that you found a far better way afterwards.”

It was for this reason that the boy had no scruples in giving Cassandra, someone from House Varita, some motivation in asking Flynn out. The fact that there was no news on a violent revolution in Elinaris made him think that the man had something beyond simple violence. And well…if he was able to integrate with the ex-rulers of Elinaris, so much the better.

“Talk about a stroke of luck, actually,” said Flynn. “With the funds you gave, I was able to bring the underworld of Elinaris under my rule. It wasn’t easy, but with enough money, anything is possible. I replaced the problematic vice lords with my own men, and then enforced my own rules to instil some semblance of order.”

“That’s nice and all,” said Gaius. “But what does that have to do with you become a city lord?”

“There were some people who still resisted my encroachment. I wasn’t going to pay much attention to them, but then Kidd told me that they were” —Flynn’s face darkened for a moment— “trafficking children, so I led my men into the Scalpers’ Hood and slaughtered the entire gang. And guess what?”

“You saved someone important?”

“Yeah. A kid from the first-tier city, Sephira. Turned out that his parents were big-shots from House Sephira, and that he’d been abducted and sold as part of a power struggle,” said Flynn. “That famous toymaker bit? While I was hosting the caught kids in my warehouse, they started playing with my stuff and they liked it.”

“That’s…”

“Really unbelievable, isn’t it? All kinds of things had to fall into place for this near-miracle to happen,” said Flynn. “If I didn’t clean the place up the way I did, or if Kidd didn’t follow his sense of justice, or if you didn’t fund me…so many things might have changed. And as a result, House Varita was made to rescind its claim on Elinaris.”

“And things changed, without needing senseless violence or unnecessary deaths,” said Gaius. “That’s a good result, as far as results go.”

Flynn grinned, and then took out a small plate. There was a spinning top on it, and it showed no signs of ending anytime soon. “Isn’t it? When news broke about my ascension and especially the people behind it, the queue to this place could go one round around this place, and then some.”

Gaius looked at the man, before nodding. There was something to be said about the lack of pompousness at his sudden windfall. The slums of Elinaris were fortunate to have such a man as their city lord — he knew his roots, and he knew how to repay kindness.

“Well,” said Gaius, “enough about the political stuff. Let’s talk about more interesting things. Your toys and gadgets…they’re actually miniaturised artefacts, do you know that?”

“Yeap. It was tough making them, but they fetch quite the good price for a reason,” replied Flynn. “Why? Are you interested?”

“I want to bring some home for my family,” said Gaius. “I have a sibling who likes interesting things very much.”

“Sure, go wild,” said the toymaker. “They’re meant to be taken home by kids anyway.”

“I won’t hold back, then.”