Proofread by Thomas F
[Skill Gained: Euphoric Ale]
[Skill Gained: Mug Slam]
[Skill Gained: Ruffians' Refuge]
[Skill Gained: Ears of Whisper]
[Skill Change: Euphoric Ale – Liquorweave]
[Skill Change: Mug Slam - Still The Hall]
[Skill Change: Ruffians' Refuge – Shaper's Sanctuary]
Shaper of Desire Lv. 42
Ironblood Lord Radiant Dreams Lv. 42
"This is something," I said, looking at the lines as I opened my eyes from sleep.
It is a little surprising, but a moment later, a smile appeared on my face.
I have got their skills; both of them only had two master skills each. Not everybody gets more than two master skills or swallows other legacies for them.
The skills, Ruffians' Refuge and Ears of Whisper, are from Mariha, while Euphoric Ale and Mug Slam are from Vanis.
Compared to Mariha's skills, Vanis's skills seem average, but seeing how they have changed. They will be beneficial.
Euphoric Ale had changed to Liquorweave.
Euphoric Ale is a skill that infuses merriness and joy into the liquor served, while the Liquorweave enhances their flavour and magic without altering them.
My legacy isn't a tavern. Euphoric Ale would have been unsuitable.
Liquorweave, on the other hand, is very suitable for my legacy.
The second master skill of Vanis is Mug Slam. It is an ordinary skill. Even normal Tavern Owners have this skill, which is very useful for them.
Although it may share the function and name with the common Mug Slam, it is far more powerful.
It had changed to Still The Hall; it will do what Mug Slam used to do, but with finery and grace.
I turned to Mariha's skills. Now, they are interesting ones.
First is Ruffians' Refuge. I knew about her skills, but I asked her about them yesterday.
She explained that once a skill is activated on someone who has entered her legacy, it will completely suppress all skills that are upon them. From tracking them to the ones that are harming them.
It even suppresses the power of contracts.
It had changed into Shaper's Sanctuary; I had not read about it, but looking at the name, it should work about the same, minus the Ruffians, which was the condition of the skill.
Ruffian's Refuge initially targets ruffians and criminals, but upon advancing to Shaper's Sanctuary, it will work on anyone.
I am the Shaper. I could provide sanctuary to anyone I want.
The second skill I got is Ears of Whisper. It is an ordinary skill among information peddlers, intelligence officers, and others, but in the context of legacy, it becomes very powerful.
It could even listen through Privacy Skills without them knowing.
Rayna has a skill like that; it is the most powerful skill that could breach through Privacy. It isn't just due to skill power, but also her control over it.
It didn't change, but in my hands. It becomes more powerful. I wanted to try it immediately, but I controlled myself.
I turned to the last two lines. It seemed I had levelled up and achieved this in both of my classes. I am surprised I've levelled up so soon.
The higher one reaches, the harder it is, but I am happy for the level up.
I thought for a moment and added the point to charisma before closing my eyes.
The effects didn't last for long; after a few seconds, they disappeared, but I didn't open my eyes. Instead, activate Telepathic Channel.
Immediately, it had connected to two people.
"I hope you like my skills," I said to Mariha and Vanis. 'They are very powerful, my lord,' replied Mariha; I could feel the awe through her voice.
I gave them four skills.
Both of them got Sight Through Veil, Crowd Flow Harmony, and Keeper of Secrets. The last one is different for both; Vanis got Trendsetting, while Mariha got Artistic Dealings.
"I am glad," I said.
I talked to them for a few minutes, answered their questions, and then cut the call.
There are things I want them to do, but I will give them some time before assigning the tasks. Until then, I will observe how they operate the tavern.
Carla and Margaux will return after attending the party tonight, while Jenna will stay there.
She won't have any other job other than observing. I will be doing that too, but with my current workload, I won't have much time.
Besides, Jenna is good at these things.
Today, Carla will meet the people who will build the new legacy. We plan to select them in a few weeks and begin construction within a month.
I aim to complete it within six months, as I will need it operational when I close Velvet Garden for reconstruction.
The leading firm that will build it will be from Inam, which is one of the compromises we made to secure funding from the Lord of Inam.
Amellus and his firm will consult on it as he is most familiar with my vision, while I will manage every aspect.
I didn't want the Tavern to be a second Velvet Garden. The reconstructed legacy should have elements of Vanis Tavern, Mariha's Inn, and Velvet Garden.
The project scares me more than Velvet Garden, because with Velvet Garden, I know exactly what I want.
That is not the case for the tavern, as I have to include the vision of the two as well. It will not be easy, but we will do it.
I didn't stay in bed for long. I got up, quickly freshened up, and went to training. When I returned, I showered and ate breakfast before walking to my office.
I only stayed there for an hour before sitting in the carriage toward the city hall.
Riding is much faster, but I am a Lord. I can't just ride the monster, no matter how powerful it is. I need to maintain the dignity of the position.
It was different earlier, as enemies were coming, and I was the Lord, trying everything to prepare my city to face them.
Now that we have won, I need to project myself as the Lord, who will bring stability and prosperity to the dominion.
Soon, I reached the city hall and got out.
I have a meeting with Artur Salazar in an hour; he arrived in the city earlier and is currently in the legacy with his people.
Soon, I reached my office, and Rutto was already there.
"Lord Silver," he greeted as he got up. "Lord Rutto," I replied as I sat down, before turning to the man.
"Five more nobles have shown the desire to come to Greltheaven," he informed. He is keeping me informed about the progress he is making.
"The army?" I asked.
Nobles are good, but I'm not putting all my effort into them again after failing last time. I would rather focus on the thing I need the most.
The armies.
"Three are willing to transfer us their men. Around 80% of whom agreed to come to Greltheaven," he replied, before putting a file in front of me.
The army not only helps in the defence of the city. It also increases the population, as many of these people bring their families with them.
We are offering all the people we recruit a travel expense to bring their families to the city. It helps the economy and increases their loyalty.
I opened the file and read through it by the time I finished. There was a smile on my face.
We adjusted our approach slightly after the last failure. Unlike last time, we are not inviting nobles and their armies together as we once did.
We are dealing with them separately.
The nobles didn't have to come to Greltheaven. They could just give us their people.
In exchange, we will give them some money, which many desperately need, or emotion essence potions, depending on the numbers and other things they provide.
Many of them could barely afford to keep a force. I am taking it off their hands.
It is not without risks; there will be spies, but it is the risk we have to take to get well-experienced men. My men are also experienced, but these people have gone through war, a different war than we have.
They have fought people while we have fought the undead.
Their experience will help my army improve, as I won't just be fighting the undead anymore.
"A ship full of men will be leaving tomorrow evening for Gailhorn. I planned to see it off from Namdar," he said.
He did a fantastic job in just a few days. He had got us, six hundred soldiers, and there will be more we will be recruiting.
The military takes over 30% of the dominion's budget, and in the next few months, it will increase further, but I must recruit as many as possible.
Since I defeated the undead, I feel eyes on me and know they are sharpening their swords.
They are looking for any weakness.
If they sensed one, they would come at me without hesitation. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them allied with each other, even after what happened.
I understood that I'm rising fast, which will make some of them feel threatened enough. They will even ally with someone who betrayed them.
In politics, everything is possible.
"Have you made all the preparations?" I asked. "Yes," he replied.
He is leaving for Inam once more, and I hope he will be as successful as the last time. Nobles, men, as well as artifacts, are on the agenda.
Many nobles have them, but it's hard to get them out of their hands.
Every artifact is a symbol of their house. Selling them is akin to selling their house. It becomes a question of honour for them.
As long as they have the artifact in their hands, there is a chance that they could rise again.
Still, I will try to get them; my army needs them. I have even crafted a special offer.
"Good. I hope this visit will also be as successful as the last one," I wished. "I will try my all for it," he replied, before getting up and leaving.
After he left, I focused back on the work.
"A lot of people are applying," I said, looking at the file, and more than half of them are from the empire.
"They are more than expected, Mage Aldridge and Margaux are quite happy about it," Lola replied.
The Academy has been built, but there is no staff. We had planned to open it a month ago, but those plans have been disturbed by the undead.
So, we are starting again, and this time, with higher criteria for the teachers.
Last time, over 80% of the staff we had recruited were from the merchant state. Now, looking at the applications, there would be less than 50%.
Those of the empire were hesitant to come here, but now we have proved ourselves; they are more than willing.
Empire is fertile ground for recruiting. The war disrupted many academies. Many professors have lost their jobs and are looking for new ones.
It had been only three days since we posted the recruitment, and over a thousand people had applied for various kinds of jobs.
From tomorrow, the interviews will begin and continue for a few weeks until we recruit all the staff.
It isn't just the academy, but also the college. We had lost many teachers.
We will recruit them; that is why Margaux and others will also be conducting the interviews.
I want to start the Academy as soon as possible, but this time, I will not compromise. If I have to wait a little to get the best people, I will wait.
I reviewed the document, made a few suggestions, and signed off on a few things before moving on to another file.
There seemed to be no end of them. It's my fault for wanting to look at everything. If I wanted to, the workload could be significantly less, but that's not who I am.
'Lord Silver, Lord Salazar is here,' informed Jill. I stopped and looked at the clock.
He is a few minutes late for the meeting, and I want to make him wait, but he is important. Still, I would have, if not for the thing he did in the morning.
Click!
The door opened, and a handsome man walked inside. Seeing me not getting up, an expression of displeasure appeared on his face, like the last time.
"Lord Salazar," I greeted first and nodded at the old woman behind him.
I could have waited, let the stand-off continue, but honestly, I need the man and the massive money his mother is giving me.
"Lord Silver," he replied, and sat in front of me.
"Thank you for releasing the funds. We want to resume working on the outer city as soon as possible," I said. The funds they had blocked were released in the morning.
"I wish you had done the same favour for us by choosing our legacy as the subject," replied the man angrily.
To that, I sighed dramatically.
"It is not an easy decision, Lord Salazar. Vanis Tavern has things that I found aligning with my vision the most," I replied, and his expression became worse.
If I had used any other excuse, he might have countered it, but he couldn't counter the vision argument.
He knows it as well. It is why it had made him angry.
"I wouldn't say anything further about it, but I hope you will show the gratitude to Namdar for all the help we have provided," he said, controlling his anger.
"Of course," I replied with a smile.
He is good. He is using his anger, for which he is famous, to get a better deal.
Many think he is an idiot; even I was fooled by this angry façade, but he is far from an idiot.
Although he may not be as smart as his sisters, he is still the son of Salazar. He understands politics and knows how to leverage his resources to his advantage.
He looked at me. I looked at him.
I won't say a number, as that would give him an advantage and encourage him to ask for more. There is no way I'm giving more than the number I have already decided.
The second passed, and then another.
Soon, nearly two minutes passed, and he grew angrier, but a smile remained on my face.
"Lady of Storms hopes that you will provide us with two hundred vials of Grade IV essence." The older woman said from behind, breaking the silence.
"That is what most thrones produce, Mage Alard," I replied to the old woman, and she smiled like a sly old fox.
"Your legacy is not an average throne, Lord Silver," she pointed out. To that, I nodded.
"It may be above average, but it does not produce as much as you are thinking. Besides, I have other obligations, aside from my own needs." I replied and turned to the man.
"Seventy-five," I said finally.
"One-fifty," he replied, and I smiled, before shaking my head.
"Let's not waste any time. I could at most give you one hundred."
"Even for that, I will have to cut my own needs and what I had planned to give imperials and others," I said with finality in my voice.
He opened his mouth, but closed it as the old woman's hand fell on his shoulder, which is also an act.
He is using telepathy. I could feel it clearly; I didn't even have to focus. It's clear as day.
After the advancement, the power of my domain had increased such that I began to sense everything far more clearly than before.
"Fine, we will accept, for now, but we will negotiate again after you expand your legacy," he accepted.
I didn't reply, except with a smile. Everybody is expecting an expansion; they had some doubts before, but the Tavern's expansion has eliminated them.
Many have even asked about the size, but the answer is known by fewer than ten people.