Epic Of The Demonic Sage

Night lights.

Why would someone desire for such small things when lanterns, candles and other things already existed beforehand?

The reason was quite simple in Lucius's mind, as he was someone that understood the behavior of people worked across various demographics.

Most commonly, there were things that a person wished to obtain for himself and among those would be items that allowed them a chance for self-expression.

A poor man didn't usually have much options, but for those who had the capacity to do so, then they'd do it.

It was why the nobility often adorned themselves with countless clothings, filled their wardrobes to the fullest and ensured that their fashion styles changed per season depending on the event, gala or situation.

And so the same thing applied for a home. 

It was a living space where most individuals spent a vast majority of their time with hence it became important to have things that made a person feel comfortable with their space and also engaged their senses.

Which was why Lucius thought of the night light as a perfect item to create and that was achievable through Lucius collaborating with Bishop Reynald and including the young lord Benjamin into the team.

The next few days passed by quickly, it didn't take too long for Benjamin to come fill the role that Bishop Reynald was looking for and satisfy the usually isolated man.

"You've done an excellent work today, Lord Benjamin." Bishop Reynald marveled as he checked all the documents that the young lord passed to him.

All of the envelopes that Bishop Reynald requested to be brought to him were all neatly arranged on a wooden desk behind Benjamin. These envelopes contained invitations from countless people who were interested in Bishop Reynald for various reasons.

Benjamin read all of them and arranged them according to their main topic of interest and in addition, the document in Bishop Reynald's hand contained all the information that the man needed so he could easily contact the people whom were interested in learning under him.

It was incredible for Bishop Reynald and he could only attribute it to one person.

'Of course, Apostle Asher will not be recommending anyone who is difficult to work with. Similar to how he have sought for me, the same could be said for the young man with me. We have both been chosen well by Apostle Asher.' Bishop Reynald thought.

"T-Thank you, Bishop Reynald. I am glad to be of your service." Benjamin said with a respectful bow.

'I was rather hesitant about working for another person besides Lord Asher, especially with a man that's older than my own father as I imagined him to be stricter, but fortunately, things have been easy with working with Bishop Reynald. I haven't been able to pick up the studying of other things, but so far, despite the slew of documents, it's all under control now.'

"You have no need to thank me, Lord Benjamin. I give credit where credit is due." Bishop Reynald said. "Speaking of which, if you need any more clarifications then come approach me so that I can teach you as well. Perhaps there will also be good in learning a bit on how the industry of Artificers worked." The Bishop said with a grandfatherly smile on his face.

"I would be honored, Bishop Reynald. I am afraid that I am not good as Lord Asher here, who is skilled in many things, but I will do my best to learn." Lord Benjamin said. "If you will take it slowly with me, I will absorb as much as I can."

"Do not worry about such things. Everyone learns at their own pace." Bishop Reynald reassured the young man, which was something that the Bishop did not think that he would be saying aloud.

'Truth be told, I did not think that it would be possible for me to wish to teach someone again, but I have been prove wrong by Lord Asher once again.' 

And while the two engaged with one another, the one individual that brought the two together and made this meeting possible was satisfied to observe for awhile.

A look of satisfaction was visible on Lord Asher's face as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched the interaction.

'The relationship between the Bishop and Baron Hugh's son is improving that it is suffice to say that both respect each other. One can almost say that the two will use both of their brains in order to fulfill their needs for mental stimulation without me even needing to stay.' Lucius thought. 'Of course, I am overseeing things, but so far, everything has been going according to plan and schedule.'

Of course, before everything was allowed to function as smoothly as Lucius wanted, there were certain things that Lucius had prepared beforehand and it was informing Bishop Reynald not to inform Benjamin about his role in the church of Etara.

Bishop Reynald did his best to not make any mention of the position of Asher and did as he asked, despite the fact that the Bishop would rather shout it out to the heavens above about how fortunate he was to work with Lord Asher.

***

Soon enough, the time finally came where a lecture was to be done for those who have replied at the shortest amount of time and were urgent to learn from the best.

Bishop Reynald still found it tiring, but with the assistance of both Lord Asher and Lord Benjamin, the bishop found himself being much more willing to tolerate what he was seeing and be a bit more kinder around his new students.

It was a step by step process in order to find the talented ones and Lucius would be the first to weed them out if he could.

The ones who were sent there were all mostly unaware of what materials were important certain things and the Artificer Master, or rather, the current Bishop Reynald was having a difficult time, but there was resilience in his voice and a conviction in his beliefs once more.

A few more days passed by, and the numbers of students who learned better were able to listen to more useful information and not just the harsh criticism of Bishop Reynald.

They were also doing the 'exercises' that Bishop Reynald asked of them.

It was a series of activities hence why it was crucial that each partially done exercise was delivered to Lord Asher afterwards.

However, that also meant that Benjamin's workload increased and along with other new roles and tasks.

It was why it was at that point that Benjamin finally approached Lucius and asked for help.

"Lord Asher, may I intrude on your time?" Benjamin coughed. 

"What is the matter, Lord Benjamin?" Lucius found himself a bit intrigued about what the young man was dealing with.

"I am not really sure if this within my capacity. The additional workload… is not usually part of my description." Benjamin explained with a sheepish expression. "I understand that this is important… but wouldn't it also make sense to hire other people. Er, forgive me, Lord Asher. It's a bit of that and well, my sister, Lily is actually quite willing to lend a hand."

"That is… certainly a possibility." Lucius said with a neutral expression. He wasn't sure on whether the young man was truly having a difficult time or the will of his sister was being accommodated, but either way, since it came to this. There was perhaps a necessity for it.

"If your sister is not having any work at the Dionysia's Brewery then she is free to come here from time to time, Lord Benjamin. However I am also quite certain that it is within your ability to do this." Lucius said with a smile. "Have more faith in yourself. It takes time to grow, but I believe that you will establish yourself well."

While the conversation was going on and the lecture of Bishop Reynald was proceeding, Kiana Wizen suddenly arrived and approached Lord Asher with an urgent look on her face.

She tried to remain calm with the presence of other individuals, but she quickly asked Lord Asher to go aside and then spoke with him in private.

"What is it, Kiana?"

"Leif has finally contacted me about the arrival of the two other criminals, Asher. I think it is vital to go there now."

Lucius raised a brow, but considered it as an emergency. He had no idea of what kind of criminals he was going to face and if they were anything like the Mad Blade Bordeaux then it was all the more reason to go and prepare.

'The artifact business will go on as it is planned and for that to truly occur, then there should be no disturbances or interferences from any other side. The visit of these two criminals needs to be addressed.' Lucius thought.

Once Lucius received the message, he informed Lord Benjamin that he would be leaving and to inform Bishop Reynald before he departed with Kiana.