1489 A Motivated Timothy

Tim held onto the document that mentioned that he was now the sponsor for Zarius Bracksfort, the greatest inventor of their time, sponsoring 15 thousand gold coins to his cause.

As a result, when the new invention was out and spread all around, he would be handed back 14% of all earnings from this particular invention. Considering what was being invented, Tim was certain that each one of these devices was going to cost around 300 gold coins at the very least.

At 14%, he would gain back about 40 gold coins with each sale. At that rate, he only needed around 400 sales to make up for the number Ning had sponsored through him.

There were a hell of a lot more ships than 400 in the ocean. And each new ship made would have this installed into it, giving him a bit more income each time.

40 gold coins were more money than what his father could make in the semester of teaching. His apartment where he lived with his father cost 5 gold coins a month.

This was a lot of money.

Tim could hardly sleep that night.

The next morning, he woke up tired with baggy eyes. He made his way to the cafeteria where many people were already having their breakfast, ready to go to work.

Tim looked all around and felt a sort of motivation that came from watching other’s work. It had been a while since he was away from his university and his suspension had long since ended.

Going back, he would certainly be criticized for not attending the university. At the very least, if he brought back something, he could get off easy.

Even after all this time, after all he had been through, he still wanted to finish his studies.

After breakfast, he went back to his room and got the notepad he had been using for some time now. He flipped through the pages and landed on the page where he had written about his train ride yesterday.

There was enough space beyond that to do what he wanted to do.

He went out on his own, searching the factory for a while until he came upon a restricted section with big muscular, almost terrifying guards standing out. That was where he had seen Zarius and the others go to work yesterday.

“Hi, is Miss Arya with her father? Do you know where I can find her?” Tim asked.

“The young miss is with her father, working,” one of the guards said. “Do you need her? We can send a message if it’s urgent.”

Tim wasn’t sure if he was expecting such people to be this respectful, but the polite tone certainly came as a surprise.

“It’s not urgent, but I do wish to meet her whenever she is free. If you could pass along this—”

Tim paused and looked beyond the guards to see Ning walking out with Arya, talking about something among themselves, completely lost to their surroundings.

It wasn’t until they arrived at the stairs that they looked up.

“Oh, hey Tim!” Ning called out. “What are you doing here?”

“I… I came to find Miss Arya. What are you doing here?” Tim asked. Ning certainly surprised him every day. He wondered how he became friends with the inventor’s daughter so quickly. It was only yesterday he said something about her having a system of sorts.

“I’m just helping them with their sonar and radar technology,” Ning answered. “If you’re here to talk to Arya then I’ll leave you with her.”

“I’m free all day. Find me if you need something else.” Ning walked away after saying as much.

Arya seemed a little saddened to see Ning walk away, but she turned around toward Tim and gave a perfectly trained smile at him.

“Sir… Tim, right?” she asked. “May I ask what you of me?”

“Good morning, Miss Arya. I was hoping to ask you some questions regarding your father’s past and how he came to have such knowledge,” Tim said.

“My… father?” Arya asked, looking in the direction Ning had walked away in. “Did your friend not tell you?”

“Tell me what?” Tim asked, curious what it was that Ning knew. He hadn’t talked to the guy since he went to sleep last night.

“Ah, I see.” Arya understood that Ning had decided to keep their secret. He hadn’t told anyone. “You wanted to learn more about father’s past? Sure, I can tell you. Is this an interview?”

“Of a sort,” Tim said. “I’m learning history, trying to be a historian like my father, so I like to write about anything I can. I’m hoping to get your father’s story, but I fear he will be too busy to do so. Are you free enough to chat with me?”

Arya smiled more freely now. “Certainly.”

They walked away, going to the cafeteria to sit down and talk. They spent quite some time talking, with Tim asking most of the questions and Arya answering a lot of them back. After some time, Arya began asking some questions too and Tim answered them.

He told her about what he had been doing with Ning all this time, going around to various places. Arya had been surprised enough to hear that Tim had won in a fistfight against a pirate, but that was nothing compared to when she heard that he had seen a Zurin treasure come into being.

“Actually, when we went to Airan, the pope asked me if I wanted to become the next pope,” Tim said.

“No way! You’re joking, right? You have to be joking,” Arya said.

“No, no. That’s the truth. I promise on my dead mother. The pope said I could become the next pope if I wanted to.”

“So why aren’t you one?” “I couldn’t answer right then,” Tim said. “I told them I would give them an answer in about a year. So in 6 months, I will have to go back to Airan.”

They continued chatting for much longer than they had initially intended to.

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