City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread By Thomas F

Nehdis

“You had overplayed your hand, Hardman,” I said, angry at the man before me.

I had asked him to handle things delicately. He was good at these kinds of things, which is why I chose him, but this time, he made a big mess of it.

I needed precision—a scalpel’s edge, a surgeon’s touch. Instead, the bastard brought a sledgehammer.

“I did as you had requested, Lord Nehdis, but didn’t expect he would react this way,” he replied—only fueling my anger further.

Our goal was to make Silver suffer and delay the project. Those behind wanted the same thing. We had not wanted Silver to break things so abruptly.

It is not a suitable result for us or those behind us.

We cannot afford a complete breakdown of relations. Our ties with Silver were never strong before the contract, but there was no outright hostility. Some of his people despised us, but he did not.

Now, he hates us and those behind it. It’s not good. He is an influential man.

Silver’s legacy might be a Grade III legacy, but its influence is equal to that of Grade IV due to its sheer size and the emotional essence it provides to the states.

If it ever reaches Grade IV, his power and influence will explode—far surpassing every other Grade IV legacy on the continent.

We are powerful, and Silver won’t be able to do anything meaningful to us, but it’s not good to be enemies with legacies.

Especially the ones like Velvet Garden.

…

Rayna Sable

The carriage moved through the city while I read the stacks of information.

I have read it several times, but I am still doing it. The man I am meeting today is the most powerful and intelligent man I have been assigned in nearly three months.

I don’t want to want to make a mistake. If I did, it would all go down the drain.

A few minutes later, we reached the place. Seeing my carriage, they opened the entrance but didn’t let me in directly.

The driver stopped the carriage while the guards looked inside it. I could feel their skills and their eyes as they looked over the carriage.

“Clear,” they said a few seconds later, and the carriage rolled forward. Security is a necessity—after all, this is a jail.

Click!

The carriage stopped, and the door opened. I unlatched my wheelchair from its place and moved toward the door, where the ramp was connected.

The wheelchair was enchanted, but it still took some time before I could learn to get out of it alone smoothly.

“Miss Sable,” greeted Captain Bari. I nodded and pushed my wheelchair toward the leftmost building.

Soon, I entered inside, and I climbed up. I am glad all the new buildings are wheelchair-enabled; I can get anywhere in them without any help.

I arrived on the heavily guarded fourth floor. The cells here were fortified—thick walls, a narrow slit for viewing, and a small, high-set window that barely let in any light.

This floor has the highest-leveled prisoners captured in the battles against the undead.

Captain Bari stopped in front of the cell, took out the keys, put them inside the lock, and twisted them.

Click!

I heard the clicking sound, and the door opened.

Inside is a small room with a table and a bed on which the man is lying. He opened his eyes and looked at us before focusing solely on me as he got up.

“Oh, I was wondering when I will be lucky enough to be visited by the crippled whore, I heard so much about,” he said, getting up.

The man’s name is Haris Bath. He is in his early forties, with blond hair and pale green eyes.

“I hope it was all good things,” I replied. To that, the man grinned.

“You will be temporarily handed to Miss Sable. If you try to do anything to harm Miss Sable or try to escape, we will kill you,” stated Captain Bari.

“Don’t worry, little captain. With the alchemy sealing, I could barely do anything. Even without it, running wouldn’t have been possible,” he replied before walking beside me while stretching.

He is a tall man and quite handsome. He is also powerful, a Lv. 30+ powerhouse.

“Follow me, Mr. Bath,” I said, pushing my wheelchair forward. He briefly looked at the Captain and the jail guards before following behind.

“So, we will be alone?” he asked with a suggestive smile, but I could see the cold calculations behind it.

This man is one of the smartest. Our people weren’t able to get anything from him, so they are letting me try with him.

Still, I couldn’t help but wish for someone of a lower level. This man is too powerful.

“Yes, but I would advise you not to try anything. The last two didn’t fare well.” I replied, and the man grinned.

“I have some advice for you all as well. Don’t expect to get anything from me. You will get nothing like the people before you,” he said.

“I do not need you to tell me anything. I know everything, everything about you,” I replied.

“Like what?” he asked with a grin. I turned him with a serious face, activating Impactful Words and Insightful Eye.

“Your full name is Arthur Daniel Haris Bath; you were born in the Kingdom of Vris’alud. In the province of Reih, in Lalkin city, but raised in a Karn city,”

“You joined the army after you came of age. Trained at Rismar Military Academy. Your first battle was at Jarin Hill against the Kindom of Edulia, where you were seriously injured,”

“Two months later, you fought another battle at Iker Pass, then at Feban City, where you caught the attention of your superiors,” I said.

“You kept fighting, advancing until the Battle of Jarva—your final stand on the island before they sent you here.”

The grin on his face faltered, if only for a moment.

The way I spoke, it sounded as if I knew everything about him—but in truth, I only knew what I had just said.

Here, the trick is to make them think we know everything about them. This will lead them to let their guard down while giving me a chance to influence them with words and skills.

I am using many skills. Impactful Words create greater impact, while an Insightful Eye lets me notice the changes in his expression and body language.

There are also two passive skills I am using. Madam’s Presence is the only skill I am using in the madam class.

It is a strong skill with a powerful presence. I am hiding the Comforting Presence of my Listener Class inside it.

Though, my greatest asset is me. I am a poor cripple; he could squish in an instant. These strong men, even those who didn’t underestimate anyone, unconsciously let their guard down before me.

It isn’t unique to prisoners.

Even in the brothels, girls used to tell me things. In Velvet Garden, it was the patrons.

That’s why I’m the only one still here working—of the six girls sent, the others have all returned to the Velvet Garden.

The silence lasted until we started to descend floors.

“If you know so much, then why are you here?” he asked with a grin returning on his face, but he was a lot more serious than before.

“Assessment; they want me to assess you.” I lied. Of course, it is for interrogation.

We descended more floors in silence; I had no desire to break it. In my experience, silence is the most effective tool—people can’t help but fill it with words.

Especially someone like him, who spends most of his time locked away in a cell. The quiet also keeps me from appearing desperate.

Today, I have no expectations other than to build the connection. Once the connection is built, I could begin extracting the information.

We reached the ground floor in silence and walked out of the building. His eyes moved to the guards, but not one moved toward us.

“So, you won’t listen to any information I will give you?” he asked with a smile.

“Of course, I will,” I admitted.

“If your information is good enough, we will shift you to a better cell with a big window. Better meals, more books; even a day out in the Legacy isn’t out of the question,” I added as I led him forward.

“Nice offer, but not interested,” he replied.

I didn’t say anything about that; these things had been offered to him, but he had kept his mouth shut.

I said nothing further and moved my wheelchair forward. Soon, we reached the jail gates and passed through them without guards stopping us.

He looked around cautiously, but nothing happened when we crossed the street and reached the other side.

On the other side of the jail is a garden. I moved my wheelchair toward it.

The man moved with me, looking at the people. There are no guards here, but I know nothing will happen to me. First, his power is suppressed with an alchemy solution, and second, there is a protection I couldn’t see.

The two had previously tried to escape and paid a heavy price. This one is smart enough not to do that.

A minute passed and then another. We moved through the park in silence.

“In Karn, we had a garden not far from our house; I used to go there with my mother,” he stated.

“Barti’s garden; it’s about the same as this one, right?” I asked a moment later. He turned to me with a surprise but hid it quickly and nodded.

As I said, it’s essential to create a perception that we know everything about him.

We didn’t know he used to visit the garden, but we knew where he lived and the places around it. There was only one garden near his childhood home.

It’s not there anymore; it was destroyed, along with a block he used to live in to make a mansion for the city official.

I may have just come to him now, but I have been researching everything about him for two weeks.

As I said before, the more knowledge I have about the mark, the greater my chances of getting intelligence from him.

“It was a beautiful garden. I have very fond memories of it,” he said, his eyes turning, reminiscing.

“I had never been to a garden before I came to Greltheven. I tried to enter one as a child, but the guard shooed me away,” I replied, remembering the old memory.

“You will never face such things in Vris’alud. In the kingdom, everyone is equal before the law,” he stated, with quite a pride.

“Is that why the governor’s cousin demolished an entire city block overnight for his mansion without any warning?” I said. His smile vanished, replaced by a sharp glare.

Vris’alud projects itself as a utopia but suffers from the same problems as the other kingdoms.

A few minutes passed in silence when we stopped by the fountain. He sat on one of the unoccupied benches beside me.

“There is a city in the kingdom of Brarod with wonderful fountains. Especially the grand fountain. It’s massive and beautiful,” he reminisces while I smile internally at the information I have gained.

Getting information is challenging. It is locked in a weave of skills and contracts.

There are skills and other ways to counterattack it, but I didn’t have any. This is why I focused on manipulating perceptions to gain information.

Here, I didn’t ask him any questions, nor did I lead them toward it. Instead, I remained silent most of the time while replying to his words.

At the same time, I brought him out of jail. Giving him a false sense of security.

He knew people might be watching him, and he couldn’t escape, but he slightly laid down his guard.

So, when we sat here by the fountain, around the people talking with each other, he couldn’t help but open his mouth and remember that important battle.

The raid in Vamil City happened at night; the powerhouses of Vris’alud infiltrated the city while the horde attacked from the outside.

We didn’t know he had participated in that battle. The undead had killed nearly everyone who fought in that battle. So, barely any information leaked outside.

“You guys took only six hours to conquer that city. It was quite a feat,” I replied. Leaving the bait with the praise. To that, he shook his head.

“Three hours and seven minutes. It took even less than Varima had predicted,” he corrected. Giving me another vital name.

I instantly noted it in my Mind Diary.

“That makes it one of the shortest battles fought in Brarod,” I replied; he nodded proudly.

He didn’t speak further, nor did I ask him anything. I have gotten more than I had expected. Today was only to make the connection. If I pushed harder, he would put his guard up, messing things up.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, it vanished within minutes—but darkness did not follow. Soft lights bathed the garden, casting a warm, enchanting glow.

“You are good; I heard quite a lot of things about you. It will be such a regret that once the kingdom conquers this city, you will be turned into the undead,” he said, looking at me.

“Though, you can avoid that fate. If you turn,” he added a moment later.

“The undead will never capture Greltheaven,” I replied. Evading the question about the turning, which made a hope flash in his eyes.

He didn’t press me further. I am sure he has received training about it and will not press me at once but slowly.

Most others are doing the same.

“It’s time,” I said a few minutes later as I moved my wheelchair toward the garden’s exit.

Soon, we reached the exit and walked through it before crossing the road and entering the jail’s compound once more, where Captain Bari was waiting for us.

“Thank you for the time, Miss Sable. I enjoyed it a lot,” he thanked as he stopped beside the captain. “Until next time, Mr. Bath,” I replied, smiling before turning my wheelchair toward the carriage.

It went better than I had imagined. In the next meeting, I will lead him toward the seeds I had planted in his mind. I hope to gain something.

I certainly will.

Listener of Secrets Lv. 28

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