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  Marques Grimvale

  "All of them killed or captured except for one?" I asked as Dasir informed me about the intelligence we received from our sources in Greltheaven.

  "Yes, including Lv. 40 assassin; the only one that seemed to have escaped is Bva Moor of Night Manor," he replied somberly.

  The whole office is somber; the attack was big, and Silver handled it better than we expected.

  Far better.

  If someone had told me the numbers, their levels, and the organisation they belong to, I would have said, Silver is looking at a lot of bodies.

  "This has put one of our pns on hold," he said, and I nodded.

  We thought about using assassins against Silver, but now it seems we'll need to think it over more deeply before we do.

  The assassins are a precious commodity. Especially those of high-level experts in covert attacks, one needs to use them wisely.

  "What about those alchfire bsts in the cities of Ashton Harbor and Norke?" I asked.

  I shouldn't ask, since I already know the answer. "It is Silver," conformed Dasir. The moment my scouts reported it, I understood it was from Silver.

  Every powerful force has alchfire orbs, but the man seemed to use them in a way others never could.

  "Scan every inch of the fortress and Peguex, also suggest Veniel and Haldraven to do the same," I ordered. If Silver could do this to the undead, he could have already done this to me as well.

  Given the damage alchfire can cause, we need to find the orbs if he had pced them in my territory.

  "We need to take control of baronies before we move to Silver; we cannot let him get too strong," said Dasir.

  I didn't say anything, other than leaning back against my chair. I need the baronies first and the wealth they generate, after which I can move on to Silver's other territories.

  It's not going to be easy, but I have confidence in my ability to do it.

  …

  The carriage moved through the road in morning light, and greenery surrounded us.

  We have taken the northern route, which has made it take a prolonged route to reach our destination. It is why I left the city early yesterday.

  The main road into the baronies is in Grimvale's hand.

  We are close to Lauryl and will reach there in a few minutes.

  I wish we could go faster. I had brought Tempest with me, but I couldn't ride him, at least not now.

  I looked out of the window and saw carriages moving, but they were farther away from mine and travelling in two small lines, while my carriages and the expansive security entourage took up the rest of the road.

  It was pretty big to begin with, and now, with soldiers from the barony added, it has become even bigger.

  The incident st night spooked them, as they do not want to py around with my security. Usually, I do not like it, but I accepted their feelings into account.

  A few minutes passed, and finally, the city came into view.

  "It's so different than the st time I had seen it," I said, looking at the city. It changed so much that I could barely believe it.

  There is some shock, but also pride. I could be said to be the founder of the city it had become.

  "It had been years since you st spent time here," replied Locke.

  One of the most significant changes is the new wall, a thick stone wall. When I was here, it was wooden.

  It is also much bigger.

  The town I had built was in mind for fifty thousand. The city in front of me could comfortably hold three hundred thousand people.

  Half a million at the current density level, Greltheaven has now.

  Its popution had already reached nearly two hundred thousand. Still, I am not worried about building another wall over it, because unlike my cities, which are in wastend, this is not.

  Means there are vilges and towns; this is where we will focus, as we want this to be the food basket of the dominion.

  In just a few months since we took over, we have already established four vilges. We pnned to establish more and turn a few into towns.

  It is only in Lauryl and unoccupied baronies. There will be more as we supply people to the barons.

  Whether it will happen or not will depend on the barons. If they accept my proposal, they will get the people and many other benefits.

  The carriage reached the gate and passed through it.

  As we did, I heard the loud cheer and saw the people on both sides of the street. There are thousands of them, and all of them are cheering.

  I could see the fgs of Grelthevean, Lauryl, and the twelve baronies.

  "They have made quite the preparations," I said. "They did," replied Locke while Ze watched tensely, as the soldiers around the carriage did.

  Even the police seemed tense as they kept people behind the barricade.

  I waved at them and smiled, making the cheering harder.

  The enthusiasm surprised me. If it had been people from my city, I wouldn't have been surprised. I rule one and liberated others, Lauryl is different.

  They were free and didn't come under any attack aside from the monsters and Lockridge at the st.

  So, the carriage reached near the castle, which also differed from before, not only because it had been expanded, but because there was a massive wall with battlements and cannons.

  Now, there is a rge compound around it with ample parking space.

  This had become a problem after the castle expanded to make more office space, but with the compound, that problem had disappeared.

  It was Lo's pn to remove the wall to make the administration feel more accessible. The castle was built to be intimidating, which was its purpose as a barony.

  The purpose had changed, and it needed to be changed as well, so I agreed.

  Now, it looks a lot less intimidating without losing its regality.

  This is not a city hall; Lauryl has a city hall, not far away from the castle. It was the system I had created, keeping the castle and city separate, which the barons kept going.

  The city hall is for Lauryl's affairs and the territory it controls, while the castle deals with the affairs of the baronies.

  It passed through the compound and stopped a few seconds ter.

  The door opened, and I stepped out.

  "Welcome to Nakar, Lord Silver," welcomed Lo. She isn't the only one; beside her is my sister and Baron Harrods, and behind her are the other barons.

  When I saw them, I couldn't help but be surprised.

  I saw all the barons standing there, including the northern ones, who usually remain in their territories.

  I didn't think all of them would be here to welcome me. I know most of them would be here, and I thought the rest would come in the evening or tomorrow morning.

  Tomorrow is when I am going to talk to them and give them the guarantee they need.

  "Thank you for the welcome, Governor," I replied, and could see surprise in the eyes of the few barons.

  She is the interim Governor, and I am going to formalize it in the party to celebrate the accession of baronies into the dominion, that is, in four days.

  I entered the castle; they didn't follow, only Lo, my sister, and Baron Harrods did, while the rest went with Locke.

  He is going to answer all their questions about the proposal.

  Valentina would have been the right choice for it, but she needs to be in the city. So, I have brought Locke with me.

  In one way, he is a better choice; he has a high position in the dominion, and everybody knows he is my friend. Most importantly, he is from a merchant house like theirs; he knows the nguage.

  Soon, we reached the office; once upon a time, it had been mine.

  I sat on my old chair, well, it is a different chair. They have changed the furniture in the room; I could not spot a single old piece, not even the table.

  I usually take the sofa, but we aren't alone in the office. There is my sister and Baron Harrods; it wouldn't look good on my authority.

  "I wonder why, Lauryl, was spared from the assassination attempt?" asked Lo with a deep frown.

  "It could be many reasons," "Not fitting it in their pn, ck of people, not seeing it as important enough, and many others," I replied.

  We genuinely don't know, nor do we have sources close enough to provide us with information.

  "There is a chance that they might attack tonight, when I am here. Targeting me as well as you," I added with a ugh, though nobody had ughed.

  "They had sent a pretty big force, nearly twenty elite assassins from a heritage organisation, and Lv. 40 assassin," said Lei somberly.

  She is worried, and she needs to be. As she said, it was a pretty powerful force.

  If they had struck together at any city other than Greltheaven. They would have left a lot of dead bodies behind.

  "What is important is that we have dealt with them. We will deal with them every time they attack us, like we did today." I replied, looking at three of them.

  Nobody is safe, including me.

  "Your response should make them think twice before attacking again," said Baron Harrods with a smile.

  "Let's hope so, but if it didn't. They will face the same fate as the ones who attacked us st night," I replied with the promise.

  I am going to tighten security for the governors and pilrs of dominion even further. They are essential, and I can't afford to lose even a single one of them.

  It brought the silence, but not the awkward one.

  "It seemed like Grimvale is pnning to attack," I said. To that, my sister nodded.

  "He is moving forces around. Keeping the rge force in Zelts, while small forces at seven important points," she replied.

  "How will we do if they attack tomorrow?" I asked. "We will be able to hold them down," she replied with her voice filled with confidence.

  "But not push them back and conquer the further territory? I asked.

  To that, she shook her head. "Unless you give me a bigger army," she replied, and I ughed.

  I have no interest in attacking Grimvale to capture more territory. At least not right now, opening an active front is not in my favour.

  I want to focus on development and consolidation before moving to conquer further territory.

  Though when he attacks, I will need to respond in a way that gives him pause.

  It would be great if it were in a year.

  Legacy closes in a month, and that means growth will slow in Greltheaven, which means less money. It isn't just taxes, but also the legacy's income.

  Velvet Garden generates massive revenue, of which over 75% is lent to the city.

  Once it closes, that tap will close.

  Another will open as Vanis Tavern. 75% of it would be mine, while the remaining 25% would be shared between Vanis and Mariha.

  That is just money; the essence is something else. All of it belongs to me, aside from the cut I have to give to Thorn, and a tiny amount I will start giving to Mariha and Vanis.

  Which will be a lot more than they used to get from their old legacies.

  I could give them what they used to get, but I want them loyal to me, and that small amount of essence does not affect me much.

  I think it will be a good deal for their loyalty, which I need for some of my pns.

  I pushed those thoughts away and turned to Baron Harrods.

  "The monsters seemed to be gathering again?" I asked, and he nodded. "Yes, they are," he replied, but I noticed something strange in his expression.

  "Something happened?" I asked, and he looked hesitating before nodding.

  "Yes, the tide was gathering, but colpsing before it could fully form," he said. "I believed that was normal," I replied.

  He had informed me about that in his reports.

  "Yes, but it's taking longer than what is normal. It is happening after six days. Usually, it does not happen for more than three days, four at most," he stated with Lei nodding.

  Monsters don't have complete control over the monsters.

  When they move to form the tide, it doesn't always succeed. We also interfere. If it fails repeatedly, the monster gives up.

  Now, he is saying, it has been happening for four days.

  That is indeed strange, and there are a couple of possibilities, with one being the biggest.

  "Do you think monster leaders are combining the tides?" I asked. That is bad news for us; one Lv. 40 is already hard to deal with; more would be bad.

  "It's hard to say, our scouts were not able to go that far, but we are noticing monsters of different territories gathering together," he replied.

  It turned my expression serious.

  Though the tide isn't the reason for that, sometimes, a big, powerful monsters enter the territory, making others abandon it.

  "Keep a tight eye on things, inform me. If something happens," I ordered, to which he nodded.

  The north is important for the trade route. We need it as stable as possible. The trade had been increasing for the past few months, and I don't want anything to jeopardise it.

  I will need the revenue from it more than ever after the legacy closes.

  An.

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