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‘Tell her you’re not dangerous to any of them,’ said Garovel. ‘And use her name.’

Aw, shit, that was a pretty tall order. “Ah... well... Maria... as far as you guys are concerned, I’m not dangerous at all...”

“Yeah, but how many bad guys could you beat up at once?”

“I heard Lord Dimas beat up like fifty, one time!”

“Could you beat up Lord Dimas?!”

Oh shit. Hector held his hands up but also couldn’t help laughing a little. “Alright, that’s enough. I already answered enough of your questions. If you want to ask a bunch of new ones, you’ll have to find the knight again.”

“Aw, c’mon! Don’t be so stingy!”

Hector considered hiding the next figurine so well that they would never be able to find it. He also wondered if this game was getting a little too intense.


Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Seven: ‘Temper thine ambition...’
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Her office in the Book Tower was more spacious than she needed, quite frankly, but with all these new guests running around and knowing what she did of her young Lord Goffe, Amelia Carthrace had a dreadful and exciting feeling that she might actually have need of all this space, someday.

When the Queen had offered her this position, Amelia had not been able to tell if it had been offered out of pity or punishment or something else entirely. Working for the most infamous teenager in the nation? It was hardly a job that anyone was pining for.

But now, with the economy the way it was, she could think of several, very high profile financiers who would have killed to be in her shoes--especially because some of those people were currently out of a job.

With so many banks folding up so suddenly, there was a profound surplus of financial talent out there, just waiting to be scooped up. The problem was, of course, that there was almost no one in Atreya who could scoop them up. Which meant they would not be staying in Atreya for much longer. They would have to act soon, lest the cream of their nation’s crop would head off to Intar or Steccat or Vantalay, maybe. And if they really did leave, then, well...

Then Atreya would see a real financial crisis.

To say that she was antsy about this meeting with Hector today would have been an understatement. Truthfully, she had wanted to talk to him the very second he had gotten back, but for something like this, she knew she couldn’t come off as too eager or pushy. In all likelihood, the young lord wouldn’t understand what an incredible opportunity this was and would therefore probably be rather off-put by too much enthusiasm for the situation. Millions of people were going bankrupt, after all.

And besides, such behavior was unbecoming of a woman her age. She had to maintain her dignity, if nothing else.