Back to the inn room. Elishka opened the room for me and I went in followed by Jull in her new mood. She is not even replying to me now!
Looking into the room I saw a bunch of girls, they looked nice but a bit thin.
"These are the girls?"
"Yes."
"How did they take the job offer?"
Elishka smiled, "They are a bit hesitant!"
"Hmmm! 1, 2, 4, 6... 18. Hmmm! Quite the number!"
"They insisted that they would hear from you first!"
"Fine by me! Can anyone of you read or write?"
Between them, only a single girl raised her hands.
Only one!
She has light ginger hair with green eyes, not the most beautiful among the others but she had her own charm and looked confidant.
Now that I look at her again, "Aren't you from the mine?"
"Yes, Sir Mage! You saved us that day! Actually, I am not the only one, half of us here from the mine!"
"Will you stop working there?"
"We already stopped, Sir. After the mine accident, we don't think we'll go back there again!"
Ah! So that's how it is.
"Will you be a bathhouse girl err... what's your name?"
"My name is Siv. And I have no problem working at all!"
"Then..." She didn't seem hesitant to me.
"The others are a bit in discomfort about the matter." She said.
So she herself has no problem! Picked the wrong person to argue with it seemed, no problem still.
"You said you can read, do you recognize the term 'economy'?"
"Eh? I guess it's that thing about money and food!"
She looked around and the other girls started nodding to her.
"Money and food?! Well, it can be said money and goods at least, but let's go with money and food!" I said, "So, You know by that that the economy in Winterhold is nearly nonexistent, right?"
They all nodded.
"How do you fix that?"
They all looked at each other not knowing what to say.
"Buy food from other holds." A girl said that, I replied with "Meh!" and gestured that's not close.
As they thought of it, I took a seat and sat.
"Fish for food!"
"Hunt animals!"
"it's the same thing you idiots! We need ships to trade."
"No! We need a new Jarl!"
"Need more people to start working."
"Working! There no work around these parts for years!"
They started to think! Ah, what a blessing. Nords using their heads reminds me of my old bicycle. It caught a lot of rust and made a scary noise when I tried it sometimes later.
"Okay! Okay! All that you said can be considered right. But you missed one point!"
They all looked at me waiting for illumination.
"Does this town have any money?"
They looked at me and shook their heads.
"It has no transport, no safe routes, no good leadership, not even the minimal amount of work chances! All this and that needs money. But who will give you that much money?"
They looked at me and they already guessed it!
"The College!"
"But Sir, won't the guards harass us if we worked with the mages?"
"I am a mage! And when I become a Thane they won't be able to do anything against me, you will have the support of the mages themselves and you will live in places I'll prepare for you!"
Some of them nodded.
"I know it's not the job anyone would want but you need to be the reason for this town to stand up! If things remain like this then you know better than me how will this town will end up!"
They nodded silently!
"One more thing! Have you ever heard of the Thieves Guild."
Some of them nodded, this was actually unexpected. The Guild is not that famous outside Riften.
"On the surface, they are a group of thieves who rob homes. But what if I tell you that it's not really true!" I said, "The Guild is dedicated in thievery, yes, but they are the experts when it comes circulating money, making deals, helping new work owners, loaning money and all of that, the can make a town thrive and a town sink. Now! Do you understand how important their work is?"
They nodded! Perfect.
"There is no real presence for them in Winterhold and I am glad things are this way! This job will exclusively be ours from the day we start the business. We will be the holders of the real money circulation in Winterhold."
They all opened their eyes wide even Elishka who knew of my plan!
"You, my beautiful girls, will be the cornerstone of this town! After the bathhouse, you may need a better job so I'll tell you a small piece of my plan." I said, "Every mine, lumber and trading business in Winterhold will belong to us! Along with the power of money, we will grow in number and us twenty people in this room will be the first to benefit from it."
They were smiling like idiots while wildly imaging the future.
"But don't forget! The road ahead is not easy. And to be the pioneers of making money in Winterhold, we will need to be strong."
"Yeah!"
"We will face more than just the Jarl, but we have to challenge ourselves and prove we are the only ones who can save this godforsaken town."
"Yeah!"
"We will not just save it! We will make it better than it's glory days."
"Yes! Make Winterhold Great Again!" A girl raised her voice.
"Now anything but that phrase." I heard something that made me shiver.
Anyway, I made the girls get fired up. Even though Nords are thick-skulled, Nord women are pretty much sharper than men.
I didn't lie to them in anything, but I just made it look achievable.
After that, I gave them some instructions and sent them away. Now it's only me and Elishka.
"I like these girls!" I didn't hide my opinion, actually, they are very lively.
"Now hold it there, you can't have any one of them! I am not sure if we will be able to do business that way." Elishka said.
"Hehe! That leaves me with only one choice." I said as I approached Elishka who retreated back on her own.
"Boss, please! If it is you, I at least need to..."
As I held her and pulled her closer, we heard something fall and break on the floor.
It was a wine bottle pushed down by Jull. Crap! She thinned her presence all the time that I forgot about her.
She looked at us and said, "A bee!"
"I'll go clean that up. If you please, Boss."
I seriously felt awkward. Jull was not even looking at me.
I excused myself and went out heading back to the college.
Jullanar was quite moody and tried to break another bottle on the way out but I managed to drag her before so.
Walking silently into the dorm, I immersed myself in the warmth generated by the magical runes. This was very warmer than the outside. One of the main reasons why we mages don't go out.
My room was protected by a 'Lock' spell only I could open and I filled it with soft fur so it felt really comfy.
Looking forward to the day after tomorrow, I sat on my chair and made the final improvements on the spells I am researching. By tomorrow, I'll be able to upgrade my arsenal one big time.
The notes of The Augur and Hilda's journal are there atop of each other.
I was about to stretch my hand to grab them, but unexpectedly I felt something cold on my neck.
Jull was holding a dagger and pointing it to my neck.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jon wanted to at least look at her but he heard her voice "Don't look back."
He was impressed, how could she sneak on him with ill intent while the spell 'Alarm' is active. This spell is a 'Divination' spell that has no counter.
The only explanation is; she has no ill intent.
It also seemed that there will be an episode of 'Jull's madness returns'.
"What is the matter Julls? or should I call you Mabia."
Jullanar's stiffened and replied quietly, "Don't ever call me by that name! I am Jullanar, your little Jull."
"Oh!" Jon was unexpectedly amused by her words, "Isn't that your birth name?"
Jullanar's dagger pressed a bit harder but she was not aware of it, "Thousand curses upon it! Mabia died on that ship."
"Then why the dagger, I didn't ask for any.. shaving." Jon liked the situation for some reason.
"Because I will force you!"
"Hmm?"
Jullanar got closer and moved her head beside Jon's, and hugged him with her free arm.
"What's wrong Julls?"
Jullanar took in a breath and said, "You smell's so perfect."
Jon was instantly creeped out and jumped from the chair freeing himself from Jullanar.
"Okay, now listen..." He was about to say something but he saw Jullanar in front of him.
She was naked and her hair was everywhere covering her face to her shoulders only her small pointy ears appeared.
She looked like the girl from horror movies except she wasn't in a white dress, not pale, and holding a dagger instead of a doll. Still, Jon hated horror movies.
"Julls, what's wrong?" Jon tried to see what's wrong with her and was a bit worried.
"You are .... and .... left me .... choice .... why ...."
Jon couldn't hear what she was saying so he got close to her and moved her hair away from her face.
What he saw was the usual girl that follows him around these days.
Her left eye was covered with an eyepatch and her left showed less color than usual.
"Why are you sad?"
"Because you don't ...."
She didn't say more so Jon hugged her head to his chest. She too dropped the dagger in her hand and hugged him.
"You are jealous of Elishka?"
She hugged him even tighter and didn't say anything.
Jon patted her head trying to cheer her up.
"Maybe because I am ugly."
Jullanar was speaking her thoughts out.
"Or maybe I should just die!"
Jon who heard that stopped patting her and his aura turned cold.
Jull felt the change and looked up at him as he was taller than her, but what met her sight was Jon's hands coming to her neck and clutching on it.
Jullanar was taken aback and held onto Jon's arm but he only started to tighten his grip.
"You want to die?"
She heard a cold tone she never heard from him before, not even when he caught her and tortured her in that alleyway the day they first met.
She looked at him and his expressions were not normal, his eyes were looking at her very amused, his lips curved into a twisted smile.
His aura was chillingly cold. Even the room that was warmed with magic felt like the outside in Winterhold.
"You know how death feels? How dark? How cold?"
Jon asked but this time fear kicked into Jullanar.
She tried to resist his grip but he tightened more. He even raised her up in the air with only one arm. Her body squirmed like a fish.
This was beyond her madness, beyond her fears and ghosts. A demon she saw for the first time.
"So you don't want to die?"
Jullanar's body was cold despite her struggle, this was a primal instinct. It was 'Fear'. A fear that only a predator can cause.
"Please .... sor-rry." Jullanar barely squeezed these words out.
"Humph!" Jon snorted and let go of her. She fell down on her knees and started coughing for air.
The cold aura was still around her, there was no escape from this fear that broke into her.
Jon turned around coldly, he held the chair and turned it to face her then sat on it.
She could only hold to his leg and hug on it. Though he was the source of this chilly aura, his side was the safest place she can think of.
When he saw her doing that, he held her from the back of her neck then lift her up and sat her on his lap.
Even the difference in their sizes wasn't really big, she felt like a cat on someone's lap.
"Now, you know your place?"
She nodded hurriedly.
"I salvaged you out of the prison that day."
"I put you back together."
"I gave you a name and a fair amount of choice."
"But there are things you can't choose unless I choose them for you."
"things you can't have unless I give them to you."
"Are we clear?"
His cold aura increased with every word he said an pressed her.
Jull nodded timidly.
Jon's chilly aura calmed down rapidly. And a warm aura started to take effect around him.
He put his hand on Jull's head and smiled, he took her head by the chin and raised it to face him.
"You belong to me more than you belong to yourself."
"You will follow me everywhere and when."
"You get to be my shadow and live in my darkness."
"These are the only privileges I will give you."
"Are we clear?"
Jull nodded.
"Then, let's seal this with a kiss."