"Lord Silver," greeted Hardt and others.
 
"Welcome back. I am glad, all of you have returned safe and sound," I said to the group.
 
It was supposed to take, two weeks, but ended up taking three. It is fine. They have gone to two more cities than we had initially planned and need to wait out in one city because of unforeseen circumstances.
 
"It feels good to be back home, my lord," said Hardt. Hearing that, I smiled. 
 
The city is dangerous, and it could be conquered at any time, but it is home. 
 
"How was the trip?" I asked and the expression of all became serious. "We went to the cities and met all the important people, but didn't get a single commitment from them, not even from Namdar," he said, looking disappointed.
 
"We already knew we wouldn't get any commitments, given the state of our city. Our purpose, was to show our faces, tell them our city is ready for them, and you all did that job, exemplarily," I said to them.
 
It brought a smile to their faces.
 
I talked to them for a few minutes before the team left. Leaving only Hardt and Lola behind.
 
"Did they ask for it?" I asked, and the nod came from both. "Each and every one of them. They are willing to pay far above the market price for it," replied Lola.
 
"We remained non-committable but hinted that if they made enough investments. Selling them emotion essence and goods wouldn't be out of option," Hardt added.
 
The legacy is the biggest asset of the city, and I am going to use it for all its worth. I won't mind selling them emotion essence and its products.
 
To me, getting a city back on its tracks and making it prosperous is a number one priority and there are very things I wouldn't do to achieve that.
 
I had already made a plan on emotion essence. Once the legacy opened and I got more emotions essence; I will begin selling it, but only to those who make the investments to my city.
 
"Keep giving them hope, but don't commit," I said to him so that he nodded.
 
I could see the excitement in his eyes. I am given the opportunity to handle one of the most desired things in the world that everybody wants. Especially now, with conflict everywhere in the western part of the empire.
 
A single healing potion with emotion essence could be a thing between life and death.
 
They left a few minutes later, and I went back to work. I stayed in the city hall, till late after before I walked out to check the progress on establishment.
 
What I saw there had made me happy; the construction of the establishment finally began. In the past three days, the ships have been coming every day filled with the people and the material.
 
It is not a construction material for the establishment, but also for the park. 
 
In a week, they will start seeding the ground. However, not every plant will be grown on the ground. Many plants would need to be brought whole from the merchant states. 
 
Whenever I think about the cost of it, my head starts to hurt.
 
I had asked them to buy as much as things locally as possible. Valentina had even set up a team, but less than 10% of the things are being brought locally; our merchants do not deal with those high-level things.
 
Still, many are making investments and Valentina had estimated that in a few months, our merchants will supply 20% of the construction material.
 
I hope it becomes true. I don't want the merchant states to benefit from it alone.
 
'Master Silver, Mr. Ashav is here,' said Jill, and a smile appeared on my face. 'Send him in,' I said.
 
Click!
 
The door opened and Ethan walked in. He is smiling, but seeing Zela and Ina, that smile has dimmed, before disappearing.
 
"Lord Silver," he greeted. His posture is immaculate, and his voice is smooth. It was a perfect greeting, but I could feel the teasing behind me.
 
"Ethan, it's nice to see you," I said. 
 
"You too, my lord. I wasn't expecting, you would call me, so early," he said, sneaking a glance at Ina and Zela.
 
Usually, when I make a deal. Only Caena is present. I keep my guards and everyone out. Now, they are present, along with Ina.
 
"I needed to," I said and my turned serious as I looked at Zela. She seemed to understand what I wanted as she cast powerful privacy spells around the office. Ina added her skills to it, and soon Ethan and I joined.
 
"Ina," I said and a moment later, she took a box and placed it in front of Ethan, and I could see the excitement blazing in his eyes.
 
However, the next second, a surprise appeared on his face. As Ina placed another box beside, then another, and then another. Soon, he has four boxes in front of him and he barely controls himself from opening them.
 
"You can check," I said, and he looked at me hesitantly, before it vanished.
 
Click Click Click
 
He opened all four boxes, one after another. All of it contains colorful bottles of emotion essence.
 
"God," he said as he looked at them with shining eyes.
 
This is 75% of the emotion essence. It had been taken from a legacy in the morning by Caena. 
 
The core was nearly drained at the end of the battle but in these four weeks. It had accumulated quite a lot of it. It is a Grade II legacy and could harness more emotions, than before.
 
I wish I could have taken some of the essence from a dying legacy, but Caena advised me to merge it will core. 
 
All the bottles in the boxes contain Grade I emotion essence. I could have put a few bottles of the Grade II emotion essence in there and I wanted to, but I controlled that urge.
 
I need to do this carefully.
 
I will add the bottles of Grade II before the establishment opens, but not this time.
 
He was looking at the bottles when Ina put a list in front of him. He moved his eyes away from the emotion essence and looked at the list.
 
"You want quite a lot of things this time," he said, turning to me. 
 
"I want them as fast as possible," I said, and I could see the same question appearing in his eyes, that always appeared in his eyes during the deal.
 
The question of whether these bottles belong to me or the others, but he is smart. He kept that question to himself; that question could change things and he doesn't want the things to change.
 
He like what is happening right now. 
 
He is getting an emotion essence, that is helping him and his house. It is not his concern to know, where they are coming from.
 
"I will try to get them to you as fast as possible," he replied. A few minutes later, he left, and I walked out of my office into the conference room seven.
 
"The merchant state had repeated their warning once again; they had given the same to Port Midlet, Deerpond, Gailhorn, Riverbell, and us," said Stone as I sat down.
 
"How are their preparations?" I asked. 
 
"They are good. Port Midlet and Gailhorn had brought a lot of defensive equipment from the merchant state, while Riverbell and Deerpond, seemed to be housing powerhouses from the Dustorn Fortress," he informed.
 
"Bastard!" I cursed.
 
I am cursing that bastard at the Dustorn Fortress. I have sent letters and requests, asking him to send a few of the powerhouses to my city.
 
He had sent them to the Deerpond and Riverbell, but none to us. Always, there would be a vague answer to our requests. I really hate that bastard right now, but also understand the reason for their partiality.
 
They had sent men to the Riverbell and Deerpond because if they captured those two cities; the undead would have a clear way toward the fortress.
 
Unlike Greltheaven. If the undead captured it, then they will need to pass the Brimbale, to reach the fortress. He had sent soldiers there, along with a few Lv. 30+ officers.
 
I would have liked some of them too.
 
"The attack will come and this time, it will be more powerful. I hope we are ready to deal with it," I said, with my voice heavy with worry.
 
"We are making every preparation we can. They won't gain the victory, they want," he replied with confidence.
 
"I hope, it held true," I said.
 
We are not sitting in our places, waiting to be attacked. We are making every preparation we can. The enemy won't make mistakes this time and would be better prepared, but so would we.
 
I stayed in the conference room for half an hour, before walking to another conference room.
 
"Lord Silver," they greeted. 
 
"Ladies and gentlemen from Teveb, thank you for coming to our beautiful city," I said to a group of people, that occupied a long conference table.
 
There are over twenty people sitting at the conference table, including Valentina, Arryn, Robin, and Hardt, but most are the others from Taveb.
 
It is a delegation from the city of Teveb's merchant guild. It is being led by a deacon; not even a vice-Guildmaster, but I don't mind. It is already a big thing, that they accepted the invitation to visit the city.
 
I had sent to all the cities of state Belnin, Meldhorn, and Oksall, but only two had accepted my invitations.
 
I need my city to be visible. So, I am sending people letters, inviting them with the perks and promise of an exclusive tour of my legacy which is being built.
 
It is the only thing, that interests them in my city. Only three cities had accepted so far, with Taveb being the first to come.
 
It may not seem much, but we had expected nobody to show interest. It was a surprise to use, when the three cities agreed to send the people.
 
The meeting lasted for an hour before Caena took them on a tour of the legacy. It is a choreographed tour; they will only know the details; we want them to know. The rest will remain secret until the opening.
 
"How are the preparations?" I asked. 
 
"The merchants didn't hold back at the expense. They want to impress the guests," she replied, hearing that I smiled. 
 
The merchant guild is throwing the party for our guests. They have the money for it. The idea of inviting these people has come for them. 
 
I heard there are already a few deals signed by the merchants between them. It made me happy since the trip was a no-expectation one.
 
"Still, keep an eye on everything. I don't want anything to go wrong," I said. She nodded and walked away.

An.

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