“It was too risky. You shouldn’t have done that,” said an old orc with a thick wooden staff in its body hand. To the middle-aged orc, who was stepping into the herbal pool.
 
The moment stepped in it; the injuries which looked healed turned red and a middle-aged orc gritted its teeth.
 
“It was worth it; as now, they won't guess what I am going to do next,” said the middle-aged orc, and grinned in pain, before turning to a thin human standing beside him.
 
“Is the information provided by our spy accurate?” he asked the human. “Yes. He had provided us with information many times and it was never wrong, and I have corroborated with another source,” replied the human.
 
“We have waited for this opportunity for months. If we succeeded, we would have a fortune beyond our dreams,” said the middle-aged man, with a crazed dreamy look in his eyes.
 
“We will. Your plans had never failed us, they will not fail us, now,” said the human, and the orc grinned.
 
All he did in the past few months for this opportunity. He even baited his own life, all for this.
 
He will succeed. There will be no other conclusion than this.
 
…
 
“A whole carriage. I thought I had brought lots of stuff, but it seemed like compared to you, it is nothing,” said Robin, seeing the whole cargo carriages filled to the brim with my things.
 
The carriage only has a small portion of what I have brought; the other things will come in two weeks.
 
“It is not that much,” I said. At least compared to Lancel; his things have filled the four carriages. 
 
I don’t know when he had got time to do so much shopping. 
 
A few minutes passed and all the preparations were made. When finally, Lancel and Viscount walked in, in the company of a half-orc, with a spear on its back.
 
He is Captain Temha. He will be responsible for our safety.
 
“Is everything ready?” asked Lancel. Who had returned to the mansion in the morning with a smile, with a satisfied smile on his face.
 
Even now, that smile had not disappeared.
 
“Yes, my lord,” replied Robin. “Then let's go,” he said and stepped into his carriage with Mage York, while Viscount sat in his with his men.
 
With them sitting in their carriages, Robin and I stepped into my own carriages. We will not be riding with Lancel, since the business is done; he wants his privacy, and I couldn’t agree more.
 
I sat opposite Ina in a maroon carriage and a couple of seconds later; the carriages begin to move out of the mansion.
 
I sighed as I looked at the beautiful city, bathing in the evening light. The undead had really built a great city that one would wish to live in it forever.
 
Even I felt that for a moment, but I can’t. This is Navr, and I am from the Empire. 
 
I love Greltheaven. It may be small and have nothing compared to the magnificent Jalrux, but I love it there. I never felt peace anywhere but there.
 
“If there is a chance in the future, I will visit the Orwyth Tower again,” said Ina, as he looked at a huge blue tower. A planetarium that we visited in the afternoon.
 
It was really good, better than any planetarium I have visited on Earth.
 
I get to see it and a few other things, thanks to the Viscount. In the morning, he informed us that it will take us the evening to leave, and I was more than happy with that news.
 
I was able to visit the places I couldn’t do yesterday and also able to do some shopping.
 
Now, Carla won’t be mad.
 
The stopping took nearly everything I had brought with me. Now I have less than four thousand crowns in my pocket. 
 
Soon an hour passed, and the carriage moved out the last gate of the city. We are now truly out of it.
 
Ina shuddered, seeing the vast farmland in front of us.
 
“Don’t worry, they had dealt with the problem. The incident will not repeat itself,” I said reassuringly, sounding more confident than I am feeling.
 
It was not just her who is scared, but also I am. I knew how lucky I had been to survive that place. If Viscount Atre hadn’t been there; then, even with four times the numbers, those bloody plants would have had us.
 
I loosened my hand on my sword, which was still attached to my chest, and took out the book from my bag.
 
I had brought a good number of books but did not get even a minute to read them in the city. Now, I am going to read it, till we take a break for dinner, which is going to be around ten.
 
So, I have a few hours.
 
I activated the Fast Reading and began to read at incredible speed. The skill is amazing. What makes it more amazing is that, while it lets me read fast, it did not take the joy out of it.
 
I feel the same joy and relaxation, while reading skill, as I do without it. It also saves me a tremendous time.
 
My speed of reading had increased with the level of my class. The lawyer class had advanced a lot here. Reaching Level 12 from Level 9, it was in Greltheaven. 
 
Which automatically increased the power of the skills.
 
It would have been great. If the attribute points I have got here, would have been used in the charm and other mental attributes; the power of the skills would have been even greater.
 
I pushed those thoughts.
 
Yes, it is regretful that I need to use the attribute points on strength and vitality when I wanted to use them on charisma and intelligence, but I do not regret my decision.
 
My safety matters the most and till I reached Greltheaven safely. I would use every attribute point I have for physical attributes.
 
Those two attributes had increased my strength, along with the new skills I have got. While Jon had beaten me till I couldn’t walk on both days; I could tell my strength had risen and so has my efficiency in using my skills.
 
Instructor David is right, there is no better place than a real battle to hone one's skills and I have fought them, more than I liked to.
 
In less than a year, I had been nearly killed by my family, got attacked by undead, assassins, and thieves, and got myself into a dungeon. All of which was no fault of my own, I was never an aggressor or initiator.
 
A few hours passed when they stopped by a manor by the river.
 
It is a beautiful manor, with a huge wooden pillar with artful carvings on them. We freshened up there and had dinner before resuming our journey.
 
Captain Tenma had said we could have spent a night, but we didn’t. 
 
We have to reach the empire as soon as possible. Lancel is in more hurry than me, despite my brother being dead. 
 
He had to meet a lot of people. My brother is not the only one dead, he is the highest-ranking one who died, but there are also children and relatives of many nobles who have died, not to mention countless men.
 
The battle had been bloody and killed a lot of people.
 
Lancel is going to meet them, and I am going to follow him. It will be much better than spending time with my relatives in the blain.
 
As the carriages picked up the speed, I reclined my chair and fell asleep within a minute. 
 
The sleep had been peaceful, and I woke up at near dawn.
 
Half an hour later, the carriages stopped again at another beautiful estate, which had a large orchard in front of it. 
 
There, we freshened up and showered before having a sumptuous breakfast.
 
A few minutes after that, we are in the carriages again, moving toward the empire.
 
I once again picked up the book, happy that Lancel hadn’t called to me. I am having a peaceful time reading and when I am bored by that, I would look outside at the beautiful scenery.
 
These bastards have converted a lot of land into farmland. 
 
Navr had one of the biggest forests, but it also had the largest farmland. 70% of its population lives in a city, with 30% in villages, and those villages are strategically built near the vast farmlands.
 
The sheer wealth that Navr earns through it is colossal.
 
The undead bastards are blessed with such glorious land while we are living in a wasteland. Still, it is home and place in a strategic location. Which, if used well, would earn the city a fortune.
 
I read for a few hours and talked to Ina, for whom I had a great plan. I will inform her of that in a few hours.
 
Soon it was time for a lunch break, and the carriages stopped again.
 
This time it is tents, where cool wind from nearby hills will come, making me feel amazing. If it were up to me, I would have laid on those beds and slept away for hours.
 
I did not, instead we quickly finished and resumed our travel.
 
I once again picked up the book while talking to Ina, now and then. She also seemed to have brought some books, but they were not about history or magical things I am reading about.
 
Instead, they are all about business.
 
She also has reading skills, and hers is much better than mine, or it is due to her being higher level and having more points in attributes. She is level 20+, with more than half of the points invested in mental attributes.
 
In one of our conversations, she let it slip that since she had come here. 
 
Aside from one point which she had spent on vitality, all the other attribute points she had got, she had spent on mental attributes.
 
Which is, at least four attribute points.
 
From what I could guess, she had leveled up five times at least in her base class, which is five attribute points. 
 
Sometime later, I begin to see the familiar hills and trees. We had returned to the road; we had taken when traveling to Jalrux.
 
Looking at them, I could tell we were getting close to the empire's border.
 
I first did not believe it when the orc had said we will reach the empire by late afternoon, but now I do.
 
Which also means it is time to talk to Ina.
 
I wanted to talk to her about it when we reached the empire's territory, but now would be better. It will give her a chance to think about the choice and make a decision.
 
“Ina,” I said gently, seeing she is focused on the book. She placed the bookmark on her book and turned to me.
 
“Yes, Master Silver,” she said and waited.
 
“I want you to stay at Mirador Hold and operate from it,” I said to her. Immediately, a clear surprise appeared on her face.
 
“As you wish, Master Silver,” she agreed. The moment she got control of her emotions. Her quick reply surprised me; for the intelligent woman she is, she sometimes acts foolishly.
 
She could guess what I want her to do, but she still needs to ask for every detail before agreeing.
 
“You didn’t even ask what it will entail?” I asked her and she smiled. “I didn’t have to. I know it is a big responsibility and a great opportunity for me.”
 
“I will always be grateful for you giving me that,” she said, with her eyes becoming emotional at the end.
 
“It will not be easy,” I said, and I am not talking about business. I know she can handle it with no problem.
 
I am talking about the people. With her background, it will be difficult. She will be looked down, taunted, and someone might even try something with her.
 
All of it is a real possibility, and I will not be there to protect her.
 
“I know it will be difficult, but it is the biggest opportunity of my life and I will not decline it just because it is difficult,” she said with a conviction burning in her eyes.
 
Seeing that, a smile appeared on my face. Things will be hard, but she is capable of dealing with them.
 
“Still, let me tell you about the job and if you changed your mind after, I won’t mind,” I said to her and begin to explain.
 
Her job will be simple. She will be representative of my business and will have the power to make the deals and receive the goods. This means she will need to make trips to Navr regularly.
 
She will be based on Mirador's hold, and I have already made the preparations for it.
 
It would be difficult for others to place the representative in the military compound, but for me, it was easy. 
 
She will be the first of representatives, but will not be last. After the trade begins, the big business will place their representatives into the Mirador Hold. It will benefit Fortress a lot and from it, the city.
 
“So, what do you think?” I asked after I stated her responsibilities. Small and big, many of them seemed to surprise her.
 
“Thank you,” she said, barely able to contain the flood of emotions she was feeling.
 
“This is your contract, read it carefully,” I said and forwarded it to her, adding my Contract Skill. 
 
I had crafted it in these past few days. It is thorough, with every point taken into consideration. It had many things, including a salary, which is equal to that of Carla.
 
She read it for nearly half an hour and signed it silently, before handing me back my copy and placing hers into her iles bag.
 
The rest of the ride went in silence; Ina did not read and instead looked out of the window. 
 
Now and then, a beautiful smile would appear on her face.
 
I soon got bored looking out the window and focused on the book. I became quite engrossed in it and only looked up when I felt the carriage stop.
 
This time, we have not stopped to rest, but to get out. We have reached the empire.
 
The border is less than a hundred meters away.

An.

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