"Today, we stand together, our hearts heavy with sorrow, our spirits united in reverence, as we rember and honour the brave souls who laid down their lives in the ultimate act of selflessness and courage,"
I said to thousands of people gathered in front of , while the tears drip down from my eyes.
In the newly built cetery. There are thousands of tombstones. Two thousand, one hundred and seventy-three to be exact. They include the soldiers, rcenaries, common people, volunteers, refugees from other cities, and a whore.
na's tomb was in the front, among the most elaborate ones; right beside Major Hunriet's. Her sacrifice was, no smaller than his.
"They faced the darkest monts with unwavering bravery, and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the city and its people."
"Their bravery, their selflessness, and their sacrifice will forever be rembered and will be a beacon of light in the darkness, guiding us toward a future of hope and peace," I said and wiped my eyes as I finished the speech.
There was a silence of a couple of seconds before I nodded at Bishop Alanis and she began the ceremony with lightning the censor.
There are twelve priests with her. Two that had fought with us, ten that newly arrived. Most of them aren't even priests; they are acolytes who aren't even Lv. 10 in their classes.
It is quite a risk to bring them to this city, which could be attacked by the undead again at any ti.
A few had objected to them performing the funeral since most were faithful to the god of war; the state religion of the empire.
The bastards from the church of the god of war wanted to use the opportunity. Sent
letters to perform the funeral.
When I rejected their request, they ca forcefully.
I had expected it and detailed them, before sending them back to the Deerpond. It will have a price, but I don't regret doing it.
I will never give this honor to the bastards who had run away.
An hour later, Bishop Alanis finished, and I took the stage again.
"Let's rember them, not with grief, but with joy and pride. They deserve at least this from us," I said, bringing smiles to the faces of a few.
I walked off the stage, but didn't leave imdiately. I talked to the loved ones of those who lost their lives. It is the least, I could do.
I could only imagine what they were going through and providing every help, I could.
"It was a great speech. She would have loved it," said Carla, wiping her eyes as she stopped by . I didn't say anything, just stared at the tomb, which was covered in flowers.
There are so many of them. That is the tomb had almost got buried in it.
It is not just the girls who had placed the flowers there, but also people. To save those she had sacrificed her life for.
It is buried in flowers, but I could still read the tombstone. 'na Horn. Madam, Sister, ntor' there is also the emblem of establishnt in the middle.
She wanted it as such; it was written in her will.
We stayed there for a few minutes in silence, before sitting in the carriage. Ten minutes later, the carriage stopped at the city hall and I got out.
Today, I wanted to do nothing, but unfortunately, I couldn't do that. There is a ton of work in front of .
Click!
"They are waiting for you," said Jill as I reached my office. I nodded and entered the room.
"Lord Silver," the four people waiting inside got up imdiately. Aside from Valentina, Lola, and Hardt, there is Rip Hanson from legal.
They had finished the negotiations last night and left imdiately. They were barely able to make it to the funeral.
"Sit down, all of you," I said as I sat down.
"How were the negotiations? I asked. "Tough, but we are able to achieve, what you had wanted," she replied, with a look.
Which is obvious to even the fool.
It is a huge risk, I am taking, but there is no other option. It had been a week since the battle and a quarter of the population had left, which is fifty-thousand people.
The battle had tattered the economy of the city. I had told the bastard, that the economy was too fragile. We need to diversify it as much as possible, but like always, he didn't listen to .
I have to do sothing to invigorate it, or more people will leave. I need to bring the city back on track, fill its coffers to pay for the army, and city employees, and finance the infrastructure, among other things.
I didn't reply to her looks and picked up the first bunch of contracts and started reading it. It had already been vetted by the lawyers, but I like to look at them myself.
I read every text and line carefully. I do not care about the ti it takes. These docunts will have a far-reaching effects and I want to be sure of every word before I sign it.
It took a while before I finished reading and signed the docunts, adding my own skills.
I could feel it clicking and so are they.
"This will usher a new era to our city," I said, closing the docunts. "Let's hope so," said Valentina.
I smiled at her, before the lawyer.
"Rip, you will resign from the rchant guild and take a position as a head council in the city hall," I said to the man. Shocked would be an understatent of the emotion he was feeling, seeing he had a sort of frozen.
"I will not let you down, my lord." He said and bowed.
The city hall had a legal departnt, but half of them had left and there was no one in the other half could lead it.
"I know you will," I said.
A few seconds later, the lawyers left, leaving only three in front of . Rip isn't the only one getting a promotion, but the next promotions are a little complicated and they might not accept, seeing the conditions attached to it.
"Hardt, I want you to handle the trade office," I said, and the man's eyes lit up. It was my departnt; I like it a lot and if not for the crazy responsibilities, I wouldn't have given it up.
"Thank you, my lord," he said, smiling widely.
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"Don't thank
yet. There are serious conditions attached to it," I added, and his expression turned serious.
"What conditions?" he asked. "You will have to give your position as the head of the rchant guild and will also need to step away from your business," I said and even Valentina's expression turned serious hearing.
"My apologies, Lord Silver, but I cannot accept the responsibility," he said, without wasting even a mont.
His swift rejection didn't surprise . He would have agreed to resign from the rchant guild, but stepping away from his business is a red line for him.
Let's see if the allure of the power is big enough for him to break it.
"This is the responsibility the position will have. Think about it, you have a day," I said and pushed the paper toward him.
He opened his mouth, likely to reject, when suddenly he stopped and stared at the page harder. There was a shock appeared on his face and he read the page over and over, before turning to .
"The rchant guild wouldn't like this," he said and I smiled.
"The rchant guilds in the empire are too bloated. I am going to revert them to basic, where they will be able to run more efficiently," I replied.
It is the perfect chance to do what I want. The undead attack and chaos in the empire had made the rchants weaker.
They wouldn't be able to put too big of the resistance.
"I will give you my answer, tomorrow," he said and left, leaving only Lola, and Valentina in the office.
"I am sure, there is sothing for ," she said and I nodded. "I want you to head finance," I said, and a surprise appeared on her face, along with disappointnt.
On Earth, finance is a bigger departnt than trade, but it is not here. Most of the responsibilities are taken by trade, interior, and other departnts, making it an empty shell.
A very few kingdoms here, that give the finance the weight it deserves.
"You should read it before being disappointed," I said and slid the page toward her. She took it and began to read; the more she read, the more her expressions would change.
"You are willing to give these?" she asked, shocked. "Finance deserves these powers," I replied.
She will have many responsibilities, from budget to taxation, but most importantly. She will have control over the treasury.
"I will to have step away from the business, right?" she asked. She obtained the license the day she left for a rchant state, but if she wants this job, she will need to step away from it.
She could be a partner, but she could not run a business and take active parts in decision-making.
"Yes," I replied.
"Can you make an exception for ?" she asked, trying to act cute. "Rules are the sa for everyone Valentina. If you want this responsibility, you have to give up your business," I said.
She loves what she does and after a long ti. She had finally started on her own, but now, I am asking her to give up.
It is a massive responsibility. If there had been soone capable enough, that I trust so much as her, I would have offered that job to them.
"Fine, I will accept. It will fulfill my dream of becoming an important person," she said, and I laughed.
The smile remained on her face for a couple of seconds, before it turned serious.
"Do you really think, it will work?" she asked. I didn't have to ask, what she was talking about.
"There are good chances it would," I replied.
Signing a contract is just one part. I have to do many more things to make them have enough confidence in us to trust us with the investnts. It will be easy when the undead are hovering over us.
She left a few minutes later, and I turned to Lola.
"There is no promotion for you, only learning opportunity. Start preparing for your trip," I said to her.
She will be leaving in three days with whoever becos director of the trade office. It will be a long journey and a dangerous one, seeing things happening in the empire, but it needs to be done.
It is the best ti to act when our competitors are worrying about the undead.
"Any new intelligence on undead?" I asked Zela. "No, everything is quiet," she replied, which didn't make
feel good at all.
Instead, it made
feel more suspicious.
It had been five days and there were no movents on their part. Even spies and scouts of the rchant state weren't able to find anything.
It made
more suspicious and scared of them.
Soon, it was eleven, and I walked out of the city hall. In the mansion, I directly went to my suit, and freshened up, before laying on the bed.
I fell asleep almost imdiately, thinking about tomorrow which I am excited about. I will finally share my vision for the new legacy.
"Lord Silver,"
I was in a deep sleep, having a pretty grueso nightmare where my city burning and my loved one murdered when I heard soone calling my na.
I opened my eyes imdiately and saw Shaun and Lt. Col Hiren by my bed. They take the night shift from Zela and Jon.
"What happened?" I asked as I got up, feeling scared. Sothing had happened; it was clearly written on their faces.
…
Hendricks
"The journey wasn't supposed to last, more than two weeks, but it had been over two months and we still haven't reached him," said the man in front of
and sighed.
They are sitting at the restaurant window, watching the closed gate.
They were supposed to leave today and reach Inam, in two days, before taking a ship to Greltheaven, but now it seed like, they would have to wait for a few days at least.
"Life is full of unexpected things, Mr. Er," I said to the man in front of , before turning to two children, who are eating quietly, while we have our conversation in privacy.
If what Er had said was right, they really had bad luck on their journey.
Hope, we reach the Greltheaven quickly. Not only for the children but also for the man, who will get the answer to the question he had been asking for a decade.
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