Proofread by Thomas F
He is boring me.
I thought as I looked at the middle-aged man sitting before me in my office.
It had been only a minute since he arrived, and I already wanted to kick him out; unfortunately, I couldn't, and had to listen to him, looking attentive.
"…he made a mistake, Lord Silver. It's not a serious matter, and besides, it was the girl who encouraged him."
"What else will a man do when faced with the advances of a pretty little girl?" asked the man, while I watched him, having a hard time believing what he was saying.
He seemed to recognize my expression finally, and the smile on his face cracked.
The man in front of me is Marvis Lebolas, representative of Meldhorn. His purpose of coming here was to plead Harton Kalis's case.
The man who got a little handsy with the apprentice.
"I know you have rules, Lord Silver, but it was a lapse in judgment, and Kalis is deeply regretful about it," he said, with casualness vanishing from his tone.
"You know, every store owner must go through three days of training before they officially become part of Velvet Garden."
"In that training, we clearly explain to them what they should do and what they shouldn't do."
"He did one of the worst things and initiated non-consensual action toward a young girl."
"The girl who came to learn from him. Instead of teaching her, he dared to exploit her; there is no greater betrayal of our values than this," I replied, barely containing my anger.
There is a condition for every store owner who joins Velvet Garden. Taking on apprentices from the dominion.
We chose our best and brightest from schools and academies and gave them a chance to apprentice under these masters.
They didn't have to hire them after the apprenticeship was over or teach them all their secrets, but we expect them to teach them well enough.
So, they could get a good class.
They are our best people, the future of our Dominion. They came with hope and expectation, and that man violated them.
"Haha,"
His laugh brought me back, and I turned to him. He is laughing at me with clear anger in his eyes.
"You are a whoremaster, Lord Silver. Your city is gaining a reputation for its whores, and now you are lecturing me about respect and betrayal."
"Isn't it a little hypocritical?" he asked, while I looked at him in stunned silence.
"Mr. Lebolas, you should…"
I raised my hand, and Argis stopped. I was stunned, and I still am. I am not stunned about him calling me a whoremaster; everybody does that.
I am just stunned because he said it to my face.
The man also seemed to come to his senses as his expression turned somber, with a hint of fear in his eyes. "My apologies, Lord Silver, I misspoke," he apologized.
"You don't have to apologize, Mr. Lebolos, you said nothing, at least the first half of your sentence," I said, with a smile appearing on my face.
"As you say, I am a whoremaster, and I am ashamed; it is my brothel that put me in this position."
"But you are wrong about one thing." My voice hardened because I took the second sentence as an insult.
"The free will of my employees. From the day I took over the brothel, they had a choice. It is the thing I am most proud of, and I have protected, even when cannons were trained on my establishment."
He seemed to remember the incident, which is widely reported in the merchant state.
"I didn't mean to accuse you, Lord Silver," he said with his voice shaking.
He is a representative of Meldhorn, but there are many of them. The man got his position because of connections, and the people who gave him the position will turn on him the moment he makes a mistake.
"Have a nice day, Mr. Lebolas," I dismissed him.
There were a few more things we had to talk about, but I didn't want to talk to the man anymore.
I am not angry; everybody calls me a whoremaster, but he made light of the rules. Mocked the incident and tried to blame it on the poor girl.
This I could not bear.
The man opened his eyes wide but soon closed them. I could tell he was angry at the dismissal, but was controlling it. He stared at me for a couple of seconds before exiting my office.
Argis followed behind.
He returned a few minutes later. "I had sent the formal note verbale to the diplomatic office of Meldhorn," he informed, and I nodded.
I don't want to go further with this issue, but I will have to now. If I did nothing, they would think me weak and a pushover, but the reaction should be measured.
It is a note verbale, not a demarche. Well, a formal demarche would need to go through the Imperial Foreign Ministry.
The imperials would be more than happy to send it. Given how they are always complaining about me getting too close to the merchant states.
They will relish any opportunity to create distance.
I pushed those thoughts away and opened the letter that Marvis's boss had sent. It's a general letter, and I handed it to Argis when a voice rang out in my mind.
'General Stone had arrived,' informed Jill. Right on time. A moment later, the door opened, and Stone walked in.
"Lord Silver," he greeted before sitting down in front of me.
"What did she say?" I asked. "She agreed," he replied, and a smile appeared on my face. I am creating a second elite force; Lt. Colonel Aya Bandstone will lead it.
I have been monitoring her since I brought her to Greltheaven, and she didn't disappoint me.
Still, she wasn't my first choice for the second elite force; I had not considered her because of her disease, but after her transfer to Panar and subsequent battles in the mine had changed my mind.
She had started requesting the resources after she went to Panar, and I gave them to her.
It isn't just her, any officer, who presents me a viable plan which is within budget, I agree, some like Aya Bandstone did.
People under her were already good, but they became much better in the mine. She chose them; she trained them, and they did amazingly in their battle against the monsters.
Especially against mutated shardmaws.
"She has a limited amount of time. Will she be able to fully form a battalion before the enemy comes?" I asked.
If it is a normal battalion, one just needs to assign the men. In an elite battalion, she needs to choose them through rigorous exams and then train them even more rigorously.
If it could be ready before the enemy arrives. It would help us a lot.
"We will use the lessons we learned from Colonel Uram's recruitment and training. It should make the process faster and more efficient," he replied.
The enemy will come in less than five months, which is not much time.
"How is Arik Halewright doing?" I asked about our only noble recruit. I am quite interested in him, given his special talent.
"Very impressive. It's such a pity that few are born with such talent. If we could have a small unit of people like him, it could change a battle," he replied, clearly impressed by the man.
His talent is much rarer than the mage talent. It's one of the rarest in the world.
Even Eudo's talent pales compared to his.
"It's hard to believe that he fought to a standstill against Colonel Uram," I said.
Orok Uram is our best warrior, unmatched at the same level. Whether it is a warrior or a mage, nobody of the same level had ever defeated him, but young Halebright fought to a standstill.
I should say it another way, that Colonel Uram could even fight against such an advantage and not lose.
"His abilities are uniquely capable of dealing with a dangerous individual like Orok Uram," he replied.
It is why he is categorized as having a special ability.
"Have you thought about where to put him?" I asked. Currently, he is in Panar, under General Azalia, but it's not a permanent posting.
He will be there until his training is finished.
"I was thinking of making him your bodyguard," he replied, and I laughed.
"That man joined the army because he wanted to prove himself. If you make him my bodyguard, I don't think he will last for more than a few days," I said.
"Then in Greltheaven, I believe there are a few positions that will be suitable for him," he replied, and I smiled.
A moment later, my expression turned serious. I said nothing; I didn't need to. We are now getting to the reason he came today.
"The result is better than expected, with the same material. They are 120% to 160% better, and that is the ones forged with Grade I mist."
"In enchantments, they are over 200% stronger than normal ones, with enchantments on them lasting four times longer," he informed. He is talking about mist forged weapons.
We are finally doing this. I had sent the first batch for him to test.
Until now, I have been cautious about it.
I had focused on mist forging everything other than weapons. Doing it earlier would have opened Pandora's box of everyone's desires to have them, which I could not control.
Even now, things will be difficult to manage, but I am desperate as the enemy comes toward me. Also, we are powerful enough to manage the consequences.
"Good," I replied with a smile. I knew they would do well, but they have over-performed my expectations.
The time we took helped us gain the knowledge needed. We now know which material works best with mist, which process we should use, and even the emotions involved.
Still, the experiment would continue until we produced the best weapons.
"Very well, start distributing them," I ordered. Their production is slow because of the difficult process and the enchantments added, but we have accumulated a lot over the past few months.
Halvern also hired experts, who further increased production.
"Will they make a noticeable difference in battle?" I asked after a moment of silence. "Without a doubt, as long as we have them in enough numbers and distribute them to the right people," he replied with confidence.
It filled me with relief because of the power of the enemies that are set against us. We will need all the advantages we can have.
There will be consequences for us using mist-forged weapons in the army, but I will deal with them after I deal with the enemy.
"I was thinking, we sh…"
He was speaking when he suddenly stopped. Seeing my expression become distant.
A Legacy had died.
Nothing about the event is surprising; they die every month, and new ones are born, but this one is special. Because we made a deal with this one.
It's another Grade III.
We made a deal for its core just four months ago. We thought it would take a year to die, but the master died within four months, and now the core is ours.
Well, aside from 10% essence, we will have to give it to the host kingdom.
And five hundred vials of Grade III essence, which we will give to heirs over a period of ten years, which is a small price to pay for the essence we will get.
'It arrived,' informed Caena as the core arrived.
A moment later, it pulled it into the domain, and we started to harvest it, not just the part we aligned with, but also the part that Twilight Hall aligns with.
Since it has become a subject, we are also feeding it the essence of the legacies.
It's unfortunate, but it can't get a skill. The legacy needs to be at least Grade IV, but they do not die easily. Compared to Grade III and below legacy, which has an expectancy of around fifty-two years.
The Grade IV live for at least two centuries.
Given their long lives and small number, very few die. It's very hard to make an agreement with their masters, but we are trying and willing to pay an exorbitant price for it.
Because it is always worth it.
Given that every Grade IV legacy has at least one legacy skill and master skills. So, even if it dies decades later, we are more than willing to make a deal.
"Sorry, a legacy had died." I apologized as I turned back to Stone. "What were you saying?"