Click!
 
"Negotiations failed. Commander Dane is attacking the Nakar," she said as I just stepped out of the conference room.
 
"It took longer than I had thought," I said and walked toward my office.
 
I had contacts in both mirador holds and baronies. I knew what both sides wanted, but they wouldn't give each other that. 
 
Dane wants complete surrender, while baronies want autonomy. Both parties were willing to make some concessions, but they were far from enough to satisfy the others.
 
"Keep me updated," I said and entered my office.
 
A lot of it depends upon the battle. If the Dane won, he would cast an eye on the Greltheaven. The attack wouldn't come immediately; it would be a few months before he had a big enough army and all the resources.
 
The victory over the Nakar will help him with that.
 
The baronies, declaring autonomy, are the best thing that happened to Greltheaven, and hope they survive the battle.
 
It will restrict the revenue and resources for Dane, which will keep him restricted to his fort. 
 
Speaking of revenue; we were raking before the undead had invaded. All the cities of the renwell region were trading with Navr. The tax revenue coming from the trade was really good, but now it all stopped. 
 
We had to stop because of the undead, but now that we have dealt with them, at least temporarily. The trade should have resumed, but unfortunately, it didn't.
 
We didn't restrict it, but no merchant wants to do it because of fear of backlash from the public.
 
We had fought against the undead. If we start trading with them quickly, the people won't like that and since people won't like that, then merchants won't like that.
 
It didn't matter if the undead that attacked us belonged to a different kingdom.
 
I will have to fix that. It will be tricky to manage people's anger against the undead, but it needs to be done. I cannot depend on trade with merchant cities alone. The undead are the enemy, but we need trade and taxes from it.
 
Which will be even less, now that Nakar and the Mirador hold aren't in the city's control. 
 
The city will need to negotiate a new agreement with them.
 
Two hours passed, and I continued to receive updates about the battle from my sources. They haven't sealed the communication and quite a lot of them are willing to provide me with some harmless information.
 
'Lord Silver, Madam Barb wants to meet you,' said Jill through the intercom.
 
It surprised me. I didn't have any meetings with her. 
 
"Do you know anything, about it?" I asked Ina. "You should meet her," she replied with a sigh. It is clear she clearly knows something but is unwilling to tell me.
 
I looked at the clock, before turning to the intercom.
 
Click!
 
"Send her in," I said. I have only ten minutes to spare; I hope, whatever it is concluded by then.
 
Click!
 
The door opened and Barb walked in. She looked very nervous, which was unusual for her, seeing as she was usually confident. I am not even sensing that wonderful alcoholic scent from her.
 
It is her skill, that turns the alcoholic smell into a pleasant scent.
 
It must be really important to make her this nervous and come to me without drinking, which she never does.
 
She always, at least a sip.
 
"Lo…Master Silver," she said, bowed hastily, but neatly. All those lessons have ingrained the poise into the very cells of girls. 
 
It couldn't help, but make me feel proud.
 
"Miss Utsa, what can I do for you?" I asked as she sat down in front of me. 
 
I would have talked about other things and made her feel more at ease, but unfortunately, I didn't have time. I have two important meetings back-to-back, with one starting in less than ten minutes.
 
She seemed to become more nervous at my question and felt like she might bolt away any second before she took a deep breath and composed her expressions.
 
"I want you to free me from my contract," she said. 
 
Saying, I am shocked, would be an understatement. 
 
I don't want to Barb, she is one of the most capable girls I have, and I am not saying that because she had burned a few hundred undead.
 
"Did someone poach you?" I asked, and a hurt flashed in her eyes for a moment. 
 
"I would never betray you or the establishment; no matter, how much money they offer," she replied with conviction. I felt relieved for a moment before the question returned to my mind.
 
"Then why do you want me to free you from your contract?" I asked, feeling even more confused. If someone didn't poach her, there is no reason for her to leave.
 
"I want to follow my path," she replied and when she said it, her expressions were firm. 
 
"I know. It is a big ask, Master Silver. Especially at a time like this, but I finally found my life's purpose and I want to follow it," she added with her eyes lighting up with passion.
 
"What is it?" I asked, feeling more confused with every word she spoke. She seemed to understand, what I was feeling, as she quickly controlled her emotions.
 
"I want to join Hugo in his mercenary company," she answered finally, and the shock that appeared on Zela's face mirrored mine. 
 
"Miss Utsa, being a mercenary is not easy. It is a highly dangerous job," warned Zela. "I understand, but I want to do it," she said and turned to me.
 
My head hurt and I was about to open my mouth to speak when Jon appeared.
 
"Miss Utsa, I am going to be blunt here. Life of the mercenary is dangerous, and it is going to be extremely dangerous for you, under Hugo, who will be taking the dangerous missions,"
 
"You might feel like, killing is easy, after burning a few hundred undead, but those undead were the weakest ones."
 
"They were also unguided; there was not a single pillar with them. If there had been, they wouldn't have had a problem with killing you with a single spell," said Jon directly, without mincing words.
 
I looked at him gratefully and turned to Zela.
 
"We are not trying to scare you, but it is a reality. Forget a pillar, even novice mage or archer, a level lower than ten would not have any problem in killing you," I said to her. 
 
For a moment, there was a silence.
 
"I understand the risks very well, Master Silver, but I want to do it. For the first time, in my life, I have found the purpose and I want to follow it, even if it kills me," she said, looking straight into my eyes.
 
I opened my mouth to object, but closed it and sighed.
 
"Fine, if you want to do it. Do it." I said.
 
"I will not free you from your contract, but add a provision to let you do this," I added, and a big smile lit up on her face. "Thank you, Master Silver. I will not forget this ever," she said, with tears streaming down her eyes.
 
"You will need to convince Hugo to join him. I will not help you with that," I said, hearing that she smiled.
 
"He already agreed," she replied and got up, before leaving while I turned to Zela.
 
"What was he thinking, accepting her?" I asked. 
 
I am not belittling her abilities or courage to follow her path, but it is going to be extremely difficult for her.
 
She is over forty and learning to fight at this age isn't easy. Not to mention the class and the attributes that needed to focus on combat.
 
There is a reason why, people who learn to fight quickly in their lives, find greater success. 
 
For combat, one needs a different instinct. She will have relearned everything and it wouldn't be easy. Breathing fire through the mouth isn't enough to be a warrior. She needs to train to fight with other ways to defend against the attacks.
 
"I am asking the same question," she replied.
 
"Since she wants to do it, let her do it, but ask him, to train her hard. She needed to be able to defeat an experienced Lv. 10, before she will join him on any mission," I said, and Zela nodded.
 
I want her to follow her path but also wish that she would give up. It is why, I had not freed her.
 
I want her to have the option to fall back. She will have a job back, whenever she is ready, even if it takes months or years.
 
Until then, I will support her in any way, I can.
 
A few minutes passed, and the door of the office opened again. I met the person and the one, that came after him, before focusing back on work.
 
"Dane has started to retreat," said Zela suddenly. I stopped what I was doing and turned to her, feeling relieved.
 
"Contact all our sources, I want complete information of what had transpired in the battle," I said to her. I need to know everything, every detail of the powerhouses, and the strategies they used.
 
There is a big chance that I will come into conflict with them. I am not just talking about Dane. 
 
Hours passed, and soon, it was a nine. I walked toward conference room seven.
 
Click!
 
"My lord," Stone and others got up as I entered. I nodded and sat down, before turning to all.
 
"Dane had lost and lost badly," I said, and many nodded seriously, while Colonel Cardin had a smile on his face. 
 
"Lost, with four of his Lv. 30+ officers being captured by the barons," he said, with a smile on his face brightening.
 
"I had expected the battle to be toe to toe, but baronies dominated it," said Stone, who seemed as surprised as I am feeling.
 
"Commander Dane had an advantage with the army, but he lost in powerhouses. The barons had seventeen Level 30+, compared to thirteen that Commander Dane had revealed." Said Captain Azalia, looking at the papers in front of her.
 
"Your sister was very good, my lord. She fought against three and captured two. She will be a substantial challenge if we ever came in conflict with them," said Colonel Cardin.
 
I nodded somberly, but was surprised internally. There are three people, who fought outstandingly, Baron Harrods, Baron Lockridge, and my sister.
 
The first two were expected, but Leila was surprised.
 
I knew she was powerful and likely crossed Lv. 30, but didn't expect her to be this powerful. It seemed like those trips to an extreme magic region had been more beneficial to her than I had expected.
 
"The battle had been beneficial to us. It had revealed the abilities of people, we might need to face in future." I said, and everybody nodded.
 
We discussed the battle and even played a scenario of what would have happened with the information we had.
 
The meeting lasted for an hour before it was over. Everyone started to leave, till only Stone and I had remained in the conference room.
 
"Stone. If you don't go tomorrow, I will suspend you," I said sternly. He had disobeyed me enough; I will not have it anymore.
 
"I am working on my power, my lord. I don't think, I need anyone's help, to get control over it, unless they are elder blood," he said, giving me a searching look.
 
"Go there for a week. If you don't like it after, I will not force you, but go tomorrow or I will do what I said," I warned and walked out of the conference room.
 
It had been two days since I asked him to go to her, but he didn't. The elder-blood is powerful, but he needs to have control over it to use it at its full might and she will help him with that.
 
She has the knowledge to help him.
 
Most importantly, she has the power, which is even more difficult to control than the elder blood. There is no one better in the city to teach him to quickly control his power than her.
 
Hun!
 
I had reached my office and was about to step inside it, when I halted. I felt something, I had not felt before, but I know what it is.
 
I had been waiting for it.

An.

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