Proofread By Thomas F
"Lord Silver," a short, middle-aged man greeted me as I entered the newest store of the legacy.
I had expelled the store owners who had run away when the undead attacked the city. A store in the Velvet Garden is a privilege.
It can be taken away if they didn't show enough appreciation for the city. I do not want loyalty from the store owners, but I want gratefulness.
"Mr. Idlis," I replied, and stepped inside a beautiful store called Idlis's Quill.
It is the store that sells parchment, quills, wax, and other stuff. It is a business house from the Namdar; I had given them the store.
We are currently in negotiations for stores, which will be in the new tower, as I am doing with the other cities of the empire and the merchant state.
It is much better than negotiating with kingdoms and states, because I could squeeze the cities for investments.
Especially from the cities of merchant states.
Every store owner from outside Greltheaven needs to make considerable investments in the city, and they are more than willing to do it for the prestige of having their store in the legacy.
"Your store is humming like a beehive, Mr. Adlis; the inks seem to whisper," I said, looking around the beautiful store, which has a beautiful smell of ink and paper.
They not only sell stuff, but also provide services.
By the large window, there are a couple of staff members sitting. Writing on the parchment with flourish, with the mist swirling around the quill, filling each word with the mist.
I have given him and his people access to mist and trained them how to use it.
Showmanship is a big part of stores; it is why those writing have beautiful handwriting, using the best parchment and beautiful quills.
When the store opens in an hour, people will see it and admire it. That will invoke the emotions.
"What a store, without a soul, Lord Silver," replied the man, putting a smile on my face. We have interviewed many people —about their ambition, their vision —and we liked them the most.
I am glad I chose him, because even when empty. It feels alive, it will burst with life, when the people finally let it in.
This store sells everything; they also make their own stuff. They have already established a workshop in the city, which is one of the main conditions.
Currently, they produce 30% of the stuff, but they will take it to 90% when we open the new legacy.
This store will remain open for a few months, before the tower closes, but only for these people. It didn't matter; they wanted the prestige, even if it was only for the month.
I toured the whole store before turning to the man. "Best of luck, Mr. Adlis. I hope your store does well," I wished, and I am not talking about monetarily.
Every store does well monetarily. No, I am talking about emotion value.
If his store does not produce enough emotions, I will remove him. That is the most important clause in the contract we have signed.
"Me, too, my lord," he replied.
I walked out of his store and checked out the other stores that are opening today.
The legacy is crowded as usual, but crowd skill is being extremely helpful. It is due to this that we could admit a massive number of people.
No, legacy in the continent compared to us, with the people admitting, not even the archmage tower.
Only those arenas and a few other legacies could be compared to us.
After checking all the stores, I returned to the top floor. I had been working on the legacy today. I do that, one day of the week.
The door of my office opened, and Senar walked in.
She has grown into her role and has gained a clear air of authority.
"Master Silver," she greeted and sat in front of me. "How is the training of the initiates going?" I asked. It was a weekly meeting, where I asked her about the initiatives.
"Most of them are doing well, but a few are lagging," she replied with a sigh.
"The same ones?" I asked, and she nodded. "I have been focusing on them, but the improvement they are showing is minimal," she replied.
There are fifty-two initiates, and we cannot expect all of them to be good at managing things. It is why the numbers. So, we could put them through hundreds of tests and find the best.
"Keep working on them," I ordered. I want to give my everything to them. So, I could get the best people for my legacy.
The initiation process is six months long. In the end, we will promote those who passed to trainees, and remove those who didn't pass.
A very few of them might get to continue with the program, if we see that there is a hope in them.
She nodded, and I put the page in front of me. "This is the list you had asked for," she said.
I looked at the seven names. It is the names of the best performers in the initial program. The ones who are ready to get promoted to trainees.
The program might be six month along, but we are going to pass some people and push them to trainees.
We wanted to do that in the first month, but decided to wait a little. Let them learn from the basics; it will help them as they rise higher in the hierarchy.
Senar is very good, the number of people in the list is the same, I had thought that they were ready for advancement into the trainees.
Caena has already signed off on them; I could see her signature. She was watching them more clearly than I was. So, I am now more confident of the decision I am about to make.
"Promote them to trainees," I ordered. "It will be done," she affirmed, and left after discussing other matters of her job.
I didn't stay in my office for long and walked out of the tower.
A few minutes later, I stopped out of the carriage on the college campus. There is a construction happening; a new residential building is being constructed along with a new academic building and a few others.
There are slightly over five hundred and forty girls in the college, but in the next few months, I plan to increase the number.
I want to take the numbers to at least two and a half thousand by the time we open legacy after reconstruction. The numbers are massive, but we are going to need them.
To support that, we will need different facilities.
When turned to the north, near the edge of the park, on the western side, a large construction had begun two weeks ago. It was supposed to start with the park's reconstruction, but that has been delayed for a few months.
I cannot afford to delay it, as this will become one of the pillars of the Velvet Garden.
It will bring us a massive amount of money and influence.
Currently, only a few people are aware of it. I like to keep it that way until we are ready.
I was looking at the construction when a beautiful woman walked toward me. "Lord Silver," she greeted. "Miss Dawnstar," I replied to the half-elf.
"It's going to be quite big when it finishes," she said, looking ahead. "That's the plan," I replied.
"I am surprised, you are moving so fast with expansion. Given what happened, I wouldn't have moved so fast to recruit the girls after so many had betrayed me," she said, and this time, she turned, looking into my eyes.
"I rather looked at girls who stayed, despite knowing there is a death waiting for them, if the undead won," I replied, and a small, but genuine small appeared on her face.
Yes, it hurts when the girls leave, but I feel proud knowing how many stayed, despite clouds of certain death.
"Besides, I didn't have a choice. The legacy is getting bigger. I would need a large number of people for it." I added, and her smile widened.
"That too," she agreed.
There was a comfortable silence as we walked through the construction, without disturbing the work.
"Have you been enjoying your job, Miss Dawnstar? Any regret coming here?" I asked the woman; she had her comfortable life and successful business to come here.
"Regret no. I am quite satisfied here. Fulfilled will be the right word," she replied, looking at the collage.
There is no smile on her face, but there is joy in her eyes.
"I am glad," I said, with a smile.
She has quickly become the most important staff member of the legacy. Her lessons had quickened the girls' progress, and we began to harvest more emotions from the rooms.
It could be said that she had become so instrumental. That her leaving would have hurt the legacy.
Many staff had left, but she didn't. Nothing would have happened to her. Even the undead won't dare to kill the citizens of Archmage City.
Especially the one that is high-level, like hers.
I stayed there for half an hour before going back to the legacy, and soon, it was night. Now, I am on the roof, mingling with the guests at the wedding.
It is the daughter of a viscount living in Inam; he lost his territory and most of his fortune.
Now, he had married his daughter to a rich merchant, who was willing to bankroll his campaign to win back his territory. A futile, I would say, given his abilities and the difficulty of the task.
"…and I said to my friends, the undead may be powerful, but Lord Silver had beaten them many times before, and this time won't be different,"
"He will win it, even if the Great Horde is coming at him," said the fat man with the blond hair.
"It is because of the belief and trust from people like you that give me confidence to stand against the undead," I replied with a smile.
"I hope you will have the same trust in me and help when I begin my campaign against the undead," he said. "Without a doubt," I replied with a smile.
Usually, I don't attend the function for more than half an hour, but it is an important one, with a lot of nobles coming.
It is a rare opportunity to show off my city and convince them to live here. It is also giving me a window into their desire, thanks to an amazing skill.
A few have already shifted to Greltheaven, but it is nothing compared to the numbers Inam and Namdar have.
I want those numbers; it will be a massive success. If I can attract even a fifth of them to Greltheaven.
'Dane, he is making the move,'
Carla's voice rang out in my ears, stopping me in my tracks. 'He finally made the move,' I thought.
"What happened, my lord?" asked Viscount Savfort, picking up the slight change in my expression. Nobles are very good at such things.
"Nothing important, my lord. I just informed of something," I replied with a smile.
Shaper of Desire Lv. 42