“Hi, Mom!” Regina answered. “Oh… What n— Oh… Oh… S-sure… Cya…” When she closed the call, she had a worried expression.
“Something wrong?”
“Err… I don’t know…” Regina bit on her lower lip. “She said they had news, and they invited both of us to dinner. She insisted I should bring you on.”
“They’re in town again?”
“Yes… This can’t be a coincidence.”
“It’s OK,” Peter fondled her shoulder. “You endured through a dinner with my weird parents. I can do the same.”
“You think my parents are weird?” Regina frowned.
“A bit?” Peter sheepishly lowered his head between his shoulders.
“They’re not so weird as yours,” she said with a bit of a reproach. “Except for Marius… Let’s call it quits. What do you think they want?”
“I don’t know,” Peter shrugged, “but we’ll find out. C’mon, relax. It can’t be harder than fighting all those monsters.”
“And they can cut my alimony all they want; I’m rich now!” she beamed. “I love you!” she grabbed Peter’s arm.
“I love you too,” he kissed her hair.
“Ah!” Regina jerked. “Fuck… I forgot about it.”
Not the best timing, buddy!
Yep. Do that.
Peter was unsure how to spend the rest of the time until evening, but things got sorted themselves. Regina decided to shop for clothes, undoubtedly due to the gold she had earned during the quest. He first chose to do what he considered a chore, taking Shredder, Ariana, and Naomi to hunt medium-level monsters to help them level up.
He spent a few good hours there, watching the three and intervening only when necessary. The girls had gained six levels on the third floor through the games and gathering plants—which counted more for Naomi than Ariana— but fighting brought more. They gained three levels in as many hours, reaching nineteen, with Shredder lagging a bit behind at eighteen.
Then, they all went to Daniel’s place to discharge the loot. Peter gave the cook his part of the weapons and armor from the Stonehage loot at a discount. He had no use for that kind of weaponry. With the forty ounces received, Peter now had almost six hundred ounces. Only thinking of it made him dizzy. He was rich, yet he knew he couldn’t fully enjoy it until there was no more danger.
Rejoining Regina, they ate frugally, and then he went out and bought a couple bottles of wine to bring as a gift at the dinner. He settled for what he considered a medium-ranged Bordeaux for a couple hundred bucks the bottle.
After a séance of Relaxation, sorting his inventory, talking various small nothings with Regina, and walking Shredder, they left the campus at half past seven. The dinner was set for eight. The hotel looked different now, almost empty, but for a couple of armed guards in the lobby, who gave the two lovers a nod. Otherwise, there was no more concierge, porters, or receptionist.
Stolen story; please report.
The luxury suite was refurbished, with new and simpler furniture and a large guest table in the center of the living room, with the food already. There were hugs and handshakes, and then they proceeded to eat immediately.
The food was Cajun—apparently made by Regina's mother—and the spiciest meal that Peter ever had. Tears flowed freely from his eyes. Nevertheless, he forced himself to eat everything, not of politeness, but because it was very good. He was sure he couldn’t have coped with so much spiciness without his new stats.
The overall vibe was quiet and relaxed. During the meal, Peter discovered Regina had a fourteen-year-old brother she adored, who studied at a boarding school in Switzerland. At the dessert, Regina’s father clinked a glass to demand attention.
“It’s time to find out the big news…” Everybody shut up and looked at him, Peter and Regina, with anticipation and a bit of apprehension. “We decided to diversify and bought this hotel—”
“How much?” Peter asked immediately, unable to restrain himself. He had been flirting with dealing in real estate, too.
“Twenty million…” Regina’s father sighed. “A steep price. We spent all our cash, but it’s worth it.”
“It’s about the same price as before the Awakening,” Peter noticed. It should have been lower.
“Yes. The owner noticed we really wanted the place… Helene really likes it,” the man pointed to his wife.
“What will be your target market?” Peter asked.
“We’re not planning to go into hospitality,” Helene said.
“We need a logistics base in the area,” Marius interjected. He had been quiet and barely spoked until then. “That’s why I stayed here, not to spy on you. If I bumped into you, it was by accident.”
“Hm… Not sure if I believe you,” Peter frowned, saying aloud what he thought due to the wine in his system. “You’re weird, man. No offense, just the truth.” Regina elbowed him, while Marius replied by starring daggers.
The girl’s father laughed. “He is, but when you know him better, that’s what you like about him. Anyway, Peter… You once told us you wanted to enter the luxury items business, but it crashed. This is true for the average person investing in gold but not for cultivators. They spend big on art and antiquities.”
Oh…that’s true; Peter recalled the art he had seen in Melinda’s mansion.
“The current lull in the luxury art market is transitory,” Regina’s mother continued. “They consider art to help them meditate.”
“Yeah, I heard about it. But why would they pay for it? They can take whatever they want. Art or real estate,” Peter pointed.
“Actually, by their law, they cannot confiscate art if it is privately owned,” the woman said, “nor real estate if it’s not within a fifty-mile radius from a Cultivator college. But the hotel has a waiver.”
“It’s like insurance; you pay them a tax, and they promise not to touch your property,” Regina’s father said.
“Something strikes me as strange,” Marius said. “There are so few cultivators around…”
“Their seat of power is on another planet,” Peter had a slip of the tongue. “But the ‘they are few’ part is the important one. There are about twenty teachers in Dartmouth. Is it worth to pay twenty million to sell them antiques?”
“Of course not,” Regina’s father snorted. “But you got something wrong. There are not twenty cultivators here, but hundreds. The market is not about the teachers but the students. Soon, the young cultivators will graduate and want their own art to stare at. This is our pilot, but we could expand to other places.
“And you two are welcome to join the family business. You,” the man looked at Peter, “will identify the art worth buying, “Regina will promote the idea among her colleagues, my wife will set up the shop here, I’ll do the accounting and the management, and Marius and the rest of our guys will safely transport the merchandise.”
“Daddy!” Regina erupted up, turning around the table to hug her father.
“We believe you two are a match made in heaven,” Helene said. “Marius agrees, and I trust him.”
That means he did stalk us. Like a lot. Whatever… Peter sighed on the inside but stopped short of making a joke. In the end, it was true. He couldn’t imagine life without Regina anymore. He smiled at the thought, which Regina’s father took as a yes to his proposition, as he offered a handshake.
“I’m glad you’re on board,” Regina’s father smiled.
I have to ask Regina what his father’s name is, Peter thought.
“You’ll see, Papa, we’ll help a lot,” Regina bragged. “So, you’re staying here now? I can bring Peter more often so you guys bond together.”
“We’re leaving for Yalevard tomorrow morning,” Helene said. “But you can bond with Marius all day long. Now that the deal’s done, he has a lot of free time on his hands. There’s no gig the guys cannot take care of by themselves for the next month.”
“Great!” Marius grinned. “Say, kid. Do you like to play poker? Or pool?”
“Neither nor wish to,” Peter said curtly. Yeah, I won’t get suckered by you into losing my hard-earned money.
“But you must bond, somehow,” Regina frowned, showing she was keen Peter bonded to her family. “I know! You both like to hunt, right? You go hang around and have a good boys' time while us girls join Melinda for some vaccine experiments.”
Both Peter and Marius sighed and sagged their shoulders. Nevertheless, Regina’s mother brought another plate of Cajun cake, and the conversation abated to more casual subjects, like how the youngsters did in school or if Americana was a good thing to invest in, considering their plans. Things went smoothly from then on, and Regina was obviously happy, translating into a very intense night once they returned to her apartment.