City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

 Proofread by Thomas F

Carla Salt

“Of course, I will visit your estate when I come to Mirstone,” I replied to the man. His wife didn’t seem too thrilled by his invitation to me, despite smiling.

“I will hold you to that, Lady Carla,” he said and left with his wife.

It is past two in the morning. Most of the guests have left the grand ballroom. Currently, others and I are sending off the rest of them.

It took fifteen minutes before we had finished saying parting words to them all.

There were really a lot of guests, even after we had to cut many from the party. The grand ballroom is huge, but even it has its limits.

“It went well,” said Margaux as we walked out of the grand hall. “Better than well,” I replied. The party had been a huge success; there were no scandals or problems.

Most importantly, Alina Lindgren had handled things well. Caena had said, the teen is more than capable of handling the legacy of such size.

I hope she is right, because a lot of things depend on it.

“It’s going to do great. I just wish we didn’t have to close the Velvet Garden,” said Margaux before sighing.

Nobody wants to close it, but we didn’t have any choice.

“Look at it this way: this is the last time we will close it. After that, we will not have to close it, even when it advances to Grade V and higher,” I replied, to which she smiled.

It’s going to be a grand legacy, not just the legacy building, but the entire plan.

We walked out of the legacy and stepped into the carriage waiting for us. Normally, there are rooms in the legacy where we could stay, but all of them are filled with guests.

Yes, Twilight Hall had rooms.

Vanis’s Tavern had them, but he removed them within a few years of it turning into the legacy. It was the decision that old Vanis regrets taking.

Mariha’s Legacy was an inn. So, it was a no-brainer about having them back. It took quite a lot of discussion and debate about their numbers and space.

Rooms are inefficient to collect emotions; restaurants of that size collect far more emotions, but we can’t always be thinking about the essence.

Vision is more important.

Rooms are not all that bad when considering one advantage they have. Well, two. The first is that the quality of the emotions it produces is much higher than that of general visitors.

As it is in the privacy of the rooms, one fully expresses oneself.

“I will leave for Namdar tomorrow,” I said. I wanted to return to Greltheven before going to Namdar. One reason was attending Margaux’s birthday.

“Is Salazar being insistent?” She asked, and I nodded. I will leave with him.

“You know we promised them,” she said. “We did, but I think the Twilight Hall changed things for them. They fear that it will attract some people.”

“So, they want to have a big attraction in their city as soon as possible,” I replied.

The pressure is huge; they are financing the outer ring and have even sent the artisans. We have to do our part.

“People will leave, but the numbers will not be much. Namdar is still the safest location in the empire,” she said, and I smiled. “It is, but they want to keep it at the forefront of everyone’s mind,” I replied, and she smiled.

“Owlspring is going to demand the same,” she said a moment later.

This time, it’s my turn to smile.

Soon, the carriage rolled out of the gates of the legacy into the city. Even at this time, I could see people; the restrictions are loose in the legacy zone.

Here, stores and other establishments could remain open all night.

Here, restrictions might be looser, but the security is just as tight. Today is even tighter than usual, with guards at every location, looking very alert.

They should be; a lot of robberies had happened in the past few hours, while the people had come to the legacy for the party.

“It had started,” said Margaux, her eyes hazy.

I didn’t reply, but a few seconds later, I saw the changes appearing in the guards. The thieves have moved on to the real targets, the artifacts.

There are currently over thirty artifacts in the city. These are the ones that have appeared or are in the legacy’s domain; we knew of them. There might be more.

“Who is it?” I asked. “Viscount Ballarin,” she replied.

I activated Eyes of the Domain, and immediately the manor of Viscount Ballarin appeared before me. I looked from room to room, and soon a hallway appeared in front of me.

There I saw a bloodied man in the lap of a crying woman while healers cast a spell to stabilise his condition.

I was looking at it when I sensed the battle, and soon the scenery changed, and I saw masked men fighting against a group of officers.

That is when I sensed another battle.

“Things are happening fast,” she said, and I nodded, watching the thief run away with a stolen artifact.

It is happening fast, and guards are responding well, but things have happened everywhere, and guards wouldn’t be able to respond fast.

How will you handle this, Tara?

…

Tara Veyrault

I watched the second in command of General Dalson and the assistant of Adviser Lawrence walking toward Mariha’s office.

Things have become really serious. If they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have come here, personally. The city is in complete lockdown, with powerful rogues moving on nobles to steal their artifacts.

Not only that, but also other items like precious materials, half-artifice equipment, and heirloom jewellery.

Rarely do nobles gather in such numbers, aside from capitals and Namdar. They wouldn’t dare to do that in those cities, but here, they feel they could.

A few minutes later, the men walked out of Mariha’s office.

Seeing that, I got up and walked to Mariha’s office. Her assistant did not stop me as I opened the door and walked inside.

“They seemed stressed,” I said. “They are not the only ones,” she replied, massaging her head.

“What did they want?” I asked. I didn’t have to ask about it; I snooped, but telling her would be unwise.

She didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she laughed before finally turning to me. “First, they warned me not to operate in their city, and now they are begging me for any information I have.”

“You have already told them a lot. If not for it, things would have been much worse.” I said, to which she snorted.

“Tell that to them. They think I am still holding back a lot of information,” she replied.

“I might have been able to help more if they had not restricted me from acting in the city. Though even then I wouldn’t have shared everything with them,” she added with a grin.

Hearing that, I laughed as well.

She is an information broker; if she tells the lord everything, the people wouldn’t trust her. It is why she did not share everything and even helped a few criminals hide and escape.

“Well, good luck dealing with them.” I wished and got up from my chair.

Soon, I returned to my office and activated Eyes of the Domain. Seeing everything, especially the people, I had placed a mark on them.

A few of them had been caught, but most of them are still active, and some are involved in robbery.

I did not interfere; I only watched and tracked them, while a tome floated in front of me, with text appearing on pages before they would turn.

I am noting down the information.

Lord Silver, Carla, and I could only see this information. It will be up to them who they want to share it with.

Soon, an hour passed by, and I have to say, the thieves have done better than I had expected. Until now, they have stolen three artifacts.

Many are in the fight with the guards and nobles.

The nobles will not let them easily steal their artifacts. They will fight to the death. They do not need to fight to the death; they just need to fight long enough for help to arrive.

The help is very near them.

Finally, I deactivated the skill and connected to Lord Silver. He is usually asleep at this time, but he had informed me he would stay awake.

‘So, how are you going to do this?’ asked Master Silver, before I could greet.

“Dalson,” I replied.

General Dalson is head of the city’s security. He is now hunting the thieves.

‘He is a capable and intelligent man,’ he stated. There is a clear warning in Master Silver’s statement. I have to be very cautious to do what I am planning to do.

“He is, but I think he is the best bet,” I replied. I had thought a lot about how to go about it before deciding on the course.

‘Your plan is extremely dangerous for you and Greltheaven. So, tread carefully and best of luck,’ he said. “Thank you for your trust, Master Silver,” I replied.

I know how big the risk I am taking, and I don’t plan to disappoint him.

Dalson is a key to everything, at least today. He will help me get what I want, but I will need to approach this carefully.

He is one of the most powerful people in the city and one of Ralis Thorn’s most trusted allies.

“Solene,” I called, and a moment later, my assistant walked in. “Contact General Dalson. Tell him, I want to talk to him.” I said.

The girl looked surprised, but nodded.

He is in the domain. I could contact him with telekinesis, but it’s not something he should know about. The Domain is our most guarded secret, and it must remain secret.

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