City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

Owlspring

“The undead have begun to retreat,” informed Nathil.

I didn’t say anything; it’s too shocking to say anything; the whole incident was earth-shaking.

It isn’t just me; the Merchant state lords and councilmembers are shocked by what was happening. Everyone was expecting the horde to crush through Silver’s forces.

There was even a bet on how quickly it would happen, with people placing bets on the outcome, not on the hours, but in minutes.

It was a Great Horde, while Silver had a measly one hundred and twenty thousand.

That’s how confident they were in the victory of the undead against Silver. Though I didn’t bet, I felt the same; there was no hope for Silver.

“It changes things,’ I replied finally, and the old man in front of me nodded.

“There are a lot of unexpected things that happened in the battle. Not to mention the prowess of Silver and the witch coven,” said Nathil.

“Though the most interesting is the use of alchfire orbs. The undead were guarding against it, but Silver was still able to use them and destroy most of their forces.” He added a moment later.

“Find out everything about the battle. Especially that artifact.” I ordered. There are a lot of surprising things, but the artifact made me the most curious.

He was able to kill the Necromancer with it, and from what I had heard till now, I could tell that artifact had played a big part in it.

“They didn’t seem to have any record of it,” he replied, and it turned my expression serious.

The “they” he is talking about having records, are far older than Archmage City, and they didn’t have the information on the artifact Silver used.

Knock Knock!

I opened my mouth when a loud knock rang out on my door. I frowned. I had asked the secretary not to let anyone in unless it’s an emergency.

I wanted to focus on the battle entirely, and there is a call with the council in a few minutes.

They will have more information. The people watching the battle were in his control. Even Grandmage would have been watching it with a scrying spell.

Click!

I looked at Nathil, and he appeared by the door before opening it. The other side is a man, looking both happy and worried.

“Safmae, she is giving bir,” he said, and I moved, before he even finished the sentence, forgetting everything else.

…

Nakar Baronies: Council

“He won!” said Baron Rose, with deep shock that could be heard in his tremored voice as they got informed of the result of the battle.

For the first time in months, all members of the council had gathered together.

It is rare since at least one of them needs to be a fortress to guard against the monsters, but today is special, because not only are they here, but also more than half of their force.

They usually keep half of their force at the frontier to guard against the monsters, but have brought some back to the city to guard against the undead.

They knew the undead wouldn’t attack them first after dealing with Silver, but they needed to be prepared.

“How?” asked Baron Homer; to that, General Jarvis shook his head.

“We don’t know yet, but what little information we got stated that they have wiped out over 80% of the great horde and Lord Silver himself had killed the Necromancer Wraithhearth,” he replied to the utter shock of them all.

“What is his loss?” asked Baron Lockridge after a long silence. “We don’t know,” replied General Jarvis.

With the merchants stopping the information, they are nearly blind.

A proposal to form an intelligence agency will be presented to the council in the next few weeks, following the completion of negotiations.

“Now that he has dealt with the undead, he will come for us. That bastard has never hidden his ambitions,” said Baron Rose, casting a glance at Baroness Silver, but her expression remained unchanged.

“He will not, at least not now,” replied Baroness, finally speaking.

“He would focus on his defences, the battle wouldn’t have been without cost. Even if his forces are in good condition, he still wouldn’t attack.”

“He didn’t have enough forces. He had pulled all from Panar; he will have to return them to the city if he wants it protected; the undead aren’t the only threats to him in the region,” replied Baron Harrods.

“Though you are right about his ambitions, Baron Rose,” he added.

For nearly a minute, nobody spoke. Each is busy with their personal thoughts. Mainly, they are just digesting the news, with many believing it is false.

“Silver will come for us in months. It might take some time, months, years, but he will.”

“We need to be prepared. We need to increase our forces and gather allies so that we become strong enough to not only resist him, but march to Greltheaven to conquer it!” spoke Baron Lockridge, finally, with eyes burning in ambition.

…

Inam

“Your bet had paid off, father,” said my son, smiling widely. Everyone is smiling.

No one wanted Silver to repel the undead more than they did, and he had not only repelled them but also dealt such a blow that it will take them a while to recover.

Though looking at the move he is making, he didn’t seem to be finished with the undead.

“What we did will bring us some goodwill. We will still need to do more to get what we want,” I replied.

It was a risky bet to give Silver those things. It affected my defences here, but I decided to take the risk, and it worked.

Now, I have the goodwill of Silver.

“It won’t be easy to convince him,” stated Fisk. I nodded at that; I am very well aware of how difficult it is going to be.

What we want from Silver is simple; we want him to make Vanis Tavern the subject of the Velvet Garden.

After what happened today, many will be after him. Offering things equal to or more than I had prepared. After all, Velvet Garden is not a simple throne.

I collected my thoughts and turned to the old man in front of me.

“We are going to leave for Greltheaven as early as possible,” I said to Vanis. We have only a few weeks left; it is not even a month.

I need to do everything I can to make it happen, and I’m willing to offer a lot for it.

After all, it’s related to the survival of my city.

“I will ask my granddaughter to contact the madams; she has a good relationship with them,” replied Vanis. I nodded. I would need all the help I could to make it happen.

…

Transcendent Pleasure: Revina

I watched the grand city while the gentle wind swirled around me.

I am on the balcony, top floor of Transcendent Pleasure. The place reserved for the most important people, the princes and kings, had stayed here.

This is my favourite place in Transcendent Pleasure. It offers a beautiful view of the city, and there is always the gentle wind.

Though today, I am not in the mood to enjoy it.

There is too much work with the new responsibility, for which I will be leaving in a few days.

I felt grateful that the madam had entrusted me with such a significant responsibility, even though it was just a day after I started, and I couldn’t even read more than a few lines on the files.

I don’t want to think about what is happening, but I can’t seem to stop it.

I wish I could do what Gilda and others are doing. They have thrown themselves into so much work that they didn’t have even a moment for a spare thought.

I was looking when I suddenly felt the presence behind me; there is only one person who could impose here.

“Madam,” I greeted without looking back.

“They have won the battle; the undead are retreating.” She said, her voice neutral without any emotions, but I could feel the faint quake in it.

Though it is nothing compared to the earthquake in my heart.

I wanted to ask again to confirm it. If it had been anyone else, I would have, but she isn’t the one to waste a word if she says it’s true.

“I see,” I replied after nearly a minute of silence, with myriad emotions swirling in my heart. 

“Are you regretting your choice now?” she asked. “There will always be regret, but I know enough about the undead that the city is living on borrowed time,”

“They have defeated them before, but the undead will keep coming with greater and greater numbers till they finally conquer it,” I replied.

It is a shock to me that they have repelled the great horde, but they have repelled the undead before, and it didn’t change things much.

As for the regret, I do, every minute, but I still believe that I had made the right choice and wish more of my sisters had followed me.

It might be the most wonderful place in the world, but it is also a place that will be their grave if they don’t walk away from it.

“This time it’s different; they have wiped away over 90% of the horde and killed two Lv. 40s, including the commander,” she informed.

It made me turn, with a shock filling my heart.

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