'He is here,'

A moment later, the door of my office opened, and a man in his early sixties walked in with a woman in her late twenties, with dark blue hair.

"Lord Silver," they bowed gracefully.

"Baron Nightingale, Lady Leda," I replied, and asked them to take a seat in front of me.

The mood turned heavy as he sat. I could tell the man is stressed; I would be, too, if I were in his shoes. I pity the man in the circumstances he had found himself in.

"How was the journey?" I asked. "With most of the northern road finished, it was quite smooth," he replied.

We are finally finished with that damn road.

It costs quite a lot to turn a dirt road into a paved one. Strong enough to handle heavy traffic.

It made me relieved, as now we have a route. It may be longer, but it is a route. Even if Grimvale closes the access now, it would only cause an inconvenience.

He will not be able to stop the transport of trade.

"The territory, all well?" I asked, and the man smiled.

"Yes, there has been no infiltration by monsters in the past four months." "With you tightening the security further, the chances of that happening lessened even more," he replied.

It wasn't easy; I had spent a lot of resources managing it.

In the future, I am going to tighten the security further; the northern territories need it. It will also build confidence, which will help them develop unhesitatingly.

"We are also satisfied with the people you send and would be grateful if you could send a few more blacksmiths and carpenters." He replied.

The increase in population had increased the demand for craftsmen.

Unlike farmers, craftsmen didn't come in huge numbers. Their numbers are tiny. These are important professions, and their lords don't let them leave easily.

"I am trying, but you will have to wait until the new batch of apprentice blacksmiths and carpenters is ready," I replied.

I am paying established craftsmen in the city to take on more apprentices. There is an enormous need for their work, and it will increase as the population grows.

These apprentices won't be as good as experienced ones, but there is a heavy demand.

It wouldn't take them long to improve their skills, given the quality of their orders.

Besides, I am training these craftsmen to do what they will need to do in the baronies and won't be sending them there until they are proficient enough.

"We are grateful, my lord, and hope you will send a few experienced ones along with apprentices," he said. I smiled.

He isn't the only one; eleven other nobles want the same thing.

There was a silence of a few moments before I opened my mouth to talk about the thing he was here for.

"Are you really leaving to attend the conclave of your family?" I asked. "Yes, there is no other way. They will only give me the money if I go there personally," he replied.

"You know, it could be dangerous for you," I said, and the man laughed.

Merchant houses aren't simple; there is cutthroat competition, and sometimes they do whatever it takes to get what they want, including cutting throats.

"Everyone is now moving fast in baronies. I already lost the edge I had." "If I didn't get the money, I would fall behind hard," he replied.

"We could still manage without their money," said his daughter, looking at her father with pain in her eyes.

"Manage, but not grow," he replied to his daughter. I wanted to sigh on hearing that.

The large number of people I am sending to the baronies is transforming them. A year from now, it will be a completely different place.

It might not even take that long.

The barons are pouring a lot of money into it and their houses. I thought the houses would hesitate given the new laws, but the barons are capable people and able to convince their houses to invest more in their territories.

"It is much better than the things that might happen to you there," said his daughter, glaring at her father, while the man smiled.

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"Don't worry, my daughter, they will do nothing. Until the heir becomes official," he replied and turned to me.

"I am stalling it, but I won't be able to do that for long," I said to the man.

"You have done more than enough, my lord. Now, it's my turn to act," he replied. He didn't explicitly say it, but the man is going to cut the relationship with his family.

It is the only way he will make his daughter his heir. If he didn't, they would keep pushing.

Or simply finish him if they suspect. He will not do what they want.

House Nightingale is one of those who has an appetite for such things. The current head is quite a ruthless man; he will do whatever it takes to get what he wants.

The man looked to his daughter.

"I have a request to make, Lord Silver," said the man, turning to me. "I hope you will protect my daughter," he requested, holding her hand.

The woman opened her mouth, but then closed it. She knows her family and the lengths they will go to in order to get what they want.

"I promise you, I will protect her to the best of my abilities," I replied.

He didn't have to say that; I was already planning to send a few people to his territory.

Now, with him asking, I don't have to worry about being sneaky, but it would be helpful if the guards protecting her remain sneaky.

"Then I am relieved," he replied and got up.

"Take care of yourself, Baron Nightingale, and don't hesitate to contact me if you find yourself in trouble," I said with all seriousness.

"I will, my lord," he replied with just as similar sombreness.

A few seconds later, the door closed behind them, and I leaned back in my chair.

"Will his house do something to him?" asked Anders. "Very likely," I replied. I am very sure that they would do something. Verbal threats, but bodily harm is also not out of the question.

"Kill him?" he asked. "Unlikely, until I officially accept their person as the heir," I replied.

"Still, he should be careful," I added.

The day passed quickly, and soon it was evening, when I got out of the office.

The streets are busy, not legacy busy, but busy. Most of them are citizens, but one can also spot many foreigners who come for business.

I have developed other attractions for the city that are better than any in the region, but I know it's not enough.

Legacy is the tether; it is what pulls people into the city. Without it, other attractions, even if they are good, look pale. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

I had expected. So, I am not surprised.

I am happy with the business activity, which is better than I had expected. A lot of investment is coming into the city, with over half going into hospitality.

They know it's going to be big and want to be a part of it.

I thought I would need to try hard. Especially to get investment for the nine special hotels. I didn't have to. Instead, I was barraged with requests to increase the number.

It would have been great if there had been just as much investment in other sectors.

It is happening, but much slower than in hospitality.

Finally, the carriage stopped, and I looked at the massive building. To most, it is not a building, but a column of mist.

It is Velvet Garden.

"We are moving at great speed. Your skill is coming in use tremendously," said Amellus as he stopped beside me. "I am glad," I replied.

It had been three months since I had activated the skill, and the result had been amazing.

I first doubted whether it would work, but it worked and better than I could have imagined. It is helping tremendously with the reconstruction of the Velvet Garden.

"Your other skills are also powerful, among the most powerful I have seen, but I wish they were as powerful as this one," he said with a hint of regret.

While I shook my head.

Public Works is a powerful skill, but it cannot be compared to a master skill that is powered by essence.

A few days earlier, there had been another blast at the tower. They contained it, but it caused a lot of damage.

I can't remember how many big and small blasts had happened in that tower construction. It surprised me that no one had died there yet, or it would have been terrible.

Still, the final cost of it is going to be huge.

The only thing that is keeping me calm is that the tower is progressing.

"This is a Master Skill; it costs essence to run it every minute," I replied after a moment of silence.

"Of course it does, or it wouldn't have been producing a similar effect as those fabled Lv. 50 skills," he said, before he led me inside the three-story building.

Soon, we reached a room that was filled with blueprints. There are seven people already there. Five of them from Oton belong to a firm called Osalysar, while the other two are Maeve and Miss Rolgath.

"Lord Silver," they greeted. I nodded and moved to a large table filled with blueprints.

The blueprint is of the bathhouse, which is going to take an entire floor. This time, the floor is much bigger, and there are a lot of things we are going to add.

I looked at the main blueprint, which is unfinished, but it had taken shape.

I could see the artifact fountain in the middle; it is its water that will flow through the bathhouse and a few other things. This time, I am going to use it completely.

"How is it going?" I asked.

"We are making progress, but disagreeing on certain things and how we are going to be doing them," replied the elf, with skin dark as night and purple hair, which made him look quite handsome.

"I am sure you all will find the way," I said.

I tell them what I want; I don't interfere with the way they achieve it. It didn't matter to me; what matters is the result, and they give results despite their arguments and squabbling.

I stayed there for fifteen minutes before stepping into my carriage and going back to my house.

…

Revin Nightingale

I opened the door and walked into an office. It is an old office, filled with the heirloom pieces of House Nightingale.

Since its founding, every head of House Nightingale has sat here, as my father is sitting now.

"He has left, Greltheaven," I informed as I stopped in front of my father.

"He is not bringing his daughter?" asked my son. "No, he said, she is sick, and her presence is required at the territory," I replied.

"Bastard!" cursed my son.

"He is keeping her there intentionally," he said, and I agree. Our plan was to show the person we had picked for her and marry her off within a month.

It would have cleared the way for Rectar to become Baron.

"The deal was that he takes the barony until it becomes safe, and we will save his line."

"We fulfilled our end, but he has not, and Silver seemed to support him despite everything we had offered," I said, turning to my father.

Everything is in his hands now.

"It didn't matter; once he comes, he will have to give us what we want, or we will take it forcefully," replied Father.

Hearing that, I felt relieved.

I want my son to be Baron; things have changed a lot in Renwell. There is still a threat of the undead, but now it is worth it.

It is developing fast, and there is also Velvet Garden. Silver is giving his nobles emotion essence potions.

The bastard had handed only a few to us, saying his forces required them.

I hope you will make things difficult, Arim. That will force my father to deal with him in such a way that he will never be a problem again.