Chapter 994: Hiring help

Chapter 994: Chapter 994: Hiring help

"A tight schedule I can relate" Frost actually preferred a quick handoff with someone he was actually close with over a pompous fare filled with false expressions and hidden barbs.

"Good, then let’s get this over with." While Anya had grown fond of their interactions she really was in a hurry. Each and every day the Duke was without reinforcements the higher the chances they’d ultimately end up losing Icethorne, their greatest bastion.

"As you probably expected our operation was a success, not a single person survived including Rathborne and his female cohort. While we lost a few of our own, overall it went well. And as long as you don’t mention anything their deaths will remain a mystery, all evidence linking them to this place has been burned and in some cases vaporised." They were very thorough when it came to disposing of evidence, over half of the equipment was even turned to ash to prevent possible identification.

"Good, though I’d be surprised if you had failed given your line-up." If seven A-ranks couldn’t take down Rathborne and Sierra they’d be an insult to their rank. "You don’t have to worry about information leaking, no one but my most trusted subordinates are in the know and none of them have loose lips." Him even less so, who would be foolish enough to bring down a hammer on their own head.

"Just what I needed to hear." Anya smiled from ear to ear, Frost’s consent and understanding on secrecy was one of the things she needed to achieve in this discussion. The second thing was the transfer of loot which was in the form of a bunch of spatial rings and a several page document which outlined their contents as well as a contract of sale.

"This is a contract of sale, other than the items sequestered without identification which are your rewards for scouting the enemy the rest we wish for you to sell on our behalf, for a healthy commission." Their caravans were already filled to the brim with goods and personnel so they had no need for all this excess equipment but to just abandon it would be such a waste.

"A win-win for all I see." Frost took hold of the storage rings and documents and began perusing.

’Hoh they’ve been quite generous.’ There was close to 30 gold coins worth of equipment and alongside that the document stated he could have three of the recovered battle mounts, the rest however was to be sold, his cut for being middleman 15%. A deal he was more than happy to adhere to.

"It’ll likely take me some time to find buyers for it all but it’s doable. Where should I send the money?"

"Bright gem traders for the neutral nobles share and crimson blight for Prince Sedrick but there’s no rush." The monetary value may be a lot through the eyes of someone like Frost and an individual noble like Douglas Furano but to a group or a crown Prince like Sedrick it was mere pocket change.

"Alright, I’ll put my best man in charge." Calder was head of the merchantry in Niflheim as well as a member of the council, perfect for handling this little task.

’I need to discuss a few things with him anyway so this will be the perfect ice breaker.’

"If you’re happy with this arrangement just sign at the bottom of the contract and we’ll be done." Anya keen to depart rushed him along.

"Oh I definitely am." Frost wasted no time in fetching a pen to sign his name along the dotted line. And as he did the document hummed to life, glowing with a silver light that eventually formed two small spheres, one entered Frost’s heart while the other merged with General Anya, solidifying the contract between the two parties.

Frost patted his heart feeling a strange sensation, an invisible restriction or caveat that would act against him the moment he tried to elude the terms of the contract.

"For clarification does it matter if I buy the goods myself?" A bunch of the stuff could easily be reused by his monsters or be sold at a further premium to those inhabiting his city.

"As long as you pay a fair market value for them and rescind the middle man percentage you can buy as much of the goods as you want."

"Hmm then it’s a pleasure doing business with you Anya."

"Same here now I really must be going otherwise they’ll leave without me." Anya rose from her seat and headed to the door.

"Anya." Frost called out her name.

"Yes?"

"Be careful out there. What you’re going up against will be nothing like what you’ve faced before." During his time in the Realm of Niflheim Frost studied up on the members of the liberation alliance, the demonic empire in particular.

"I sincerely hope so Frost otherwise this war will be far too boring." Instead of taking his words seriously Anya responded with an expression that relayed a strong desire for a good fight, the view of a warrior.

"Hehehe I can promise you it will be anything but boring." Frost mirrored her smile, understanding perfectly her views on the matter as he to relished a good battle.

"Anything else you want to say or can I go now?"

"Be wary of Ymir’s crevasse, the frost giants have been a bit unruly since this war came about." He himself had fallen victim to their overreaching banditry.

"....Until next time Frost." Anya took his warning about the frost giants a bit more seriously, her mind already thinking about changing their route to give the crevasse even more of a wide berth. Unfortunately the closer they were to the crevasse the shorter the route to Icethorne, a difficult dilemma that she’d have to discuss with the other A-ranks as well as both teams’ respective strategists.

"Until next time Anya." Frost bade her off with a soft smile, his heart hoping they’d meet again in the future but given what she was leaving to fight he didn’t like her chances. Even the invincible Duke Runak promised no more than 3 months security and that was with a severe lack in knowledge about the masterminds behind the liberation alliance.

"The Demonic Empire huh, I wonder how strong a branch holed up between the core and inner regions really is." Frost quietly mused as Yuna walked in with a piping hot breakfast, an action that quickly had his stomach growl.

"Sit with me Yuna we can discuss how we’re going to handover control of the city while I fill my stomach."

"You didn’t change your mind?" Yuna half expected her master to backtrack on his word or at least drag it out for months but here he was the very next day putting his thoughts into action.

"No way, if anything I’m even more invested to wipe my hands clean of all this annoying paperwork." This endless deluge of documents was half the reason he snapped and devolved into a beast so easily.

Frost and Yuna thus discussed the handover process. Lesser Yuki-onnas, Yuki-onnas and Niflheim gnomes would be summoned to pick up a great deal of the slack while at the same time members of the council would be given more authority and leeway in their actions, primarily, Ringwald of the adventurers guild, Calder of the merchants guild and Rana of the labourers guild.

Frost and Yuna would still maintain their positions as Lord and Secretary but would be otherwise removed from the day to day events, focusing more on the major activities and skimming the reports of those under them.

So keen to enact this change Frost immediately used some of the 200+ thousand DP the Dungeon had earned from the false caravans and last night’s battle to create a taskforce specifically for office work before then contacting high ranking members of the council for a private discussion.

"Well it’s about damn time. To be honest I never thought you’d last as long as you did with that degree of obsessive control hahaha." Rana laughed boisterously when Frost told her of his intentions to loosen the reigns. She’d been waiting for this conversation or to perhaps see the young man flipping out from a work overload.

"You could have told me ahead of time, I wouldn’t have lost so much sleep in that case." Frost grumbled in response.

"You wouldn’t have listened to my warning anyway; this way you learned a valuable lesson."

"And that is?"

"You can’t do everything Frost, delegate and focus on things you should and leave the rest to others." Kings and Queens don’t go about handling every single little thing that happens in their kingdom, hell even nobles pawn off most of their work to their staff.

"So you’re willing to help me out?" Rana was an old woman with excess salt under her belt, management should be a breeze for someone like her.

"Hell to the no kid, I’ll take care of issues regarding labourers and construction jobs but nothing beyond that."

"How’s that different from now?"

"Well I won’t have you peering over my shoulder or riding my ass over every little decision, so I’ll have a much easier time doing my job." Rana’s smile was both genuine and grating on Frost’s heart. This woman was likely at the end of her own tether with his big brothering.

"Haaaaaaa fine from now on when I give you a job I’ll just leave you to it, just write up a detailed report in the end so I can keep accurate records."

"Done." Rana left the office in a chipper mood, feeling as though a massive weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Her outlook on her future here in Niflheim growing substantially as a result of their little talk.

The next one called for a private chat was Ringwald.