Chapter 104: Preparation

'It will take around 10 days for Jacob's team to return. Until they come, I should focus on the other things.' Raven said as he returned to his room and decided to rest.

For the next ten days, he did quite a few things. First, he met with Rebecca and appointed her as an apprentice maid under Stephaine's supervision. He also told Stephaine to teach Rebecca and Robert basic etiquette.

Then, he went to the police court and officially applied for the annulment of his engagement with Catherine Sinclair. Although it took a whole day, both sides agreed to the annulment and completed the procedure.

Unlike the Holmes Family, who had lost their property and land due to the Red Goblin incident and became a fallen Noble, the Sinclair Family was a true Noble Family with the title of Baronet. They owned a small rural town in the eastern part of Spade County and had six villages under control. Not only that, but they possessed land of around 12,000 acres in the east part of Spade County and two mansion houses inside the city. They also possessed two coal mines, three mills in Giaris, and quite a few shops.

To the Sinclair Family, marrying Catherine to Thomas Holmes felt like throwing her future into a bottomless abyss. His wine factory had already shut down, the shops once owned by the Holmes Family had been taken over by the Amell, Wills, and other families, and he was burdened with a debt exceeding 100,000 gold coins.

If Raven were in their position, he would have done the same.

'But that doesn't change the fact that they completely neglected Thomas when he lost his parents. Moreover, nobody put any effort into searching for him even after he got kidnapped by the thugs and tortured for months.'

"Emanuel, make the Sinclair, Amell, and Wills families on the red list," Raven said as he walked into the mansion house.

"Red list, My Lord? What does that mean?" Emanuel asked in confusion.

"If any of these families end up in a troublesome situation, never send a single silver as support," Raven spoke as he walked upstairs.

'Are we even in a position to help others, My Lord?' Emanuel badly wanted to say it aloud but kept his mouth tight and quietly watched Raven disappear.

"I can see the doubt in your eyes, kid," Stephaine said as she arrived beside Emanuel and added.

"You are thinking too lightly of our Lord. When we visited the Capital, he showed us how big his influence was. In ten days of his stay in the Capital, he managed to befriend a young master of the Findlay Family and also got acquittance from an expert alchemist of the Ravenshield Family. And don't forget he never stayed in the mansion during the first four days and always visited somewhere alone. I'm 100% sure he must have met with some other big shot in the Capital. Our Lord is far more powerful than you even dream of." She paused for a second to glance around and spoke coldly.

"I know you are still working for Humphrey Household and passing all the information to them. But you better stop that now to keep your life."

Emanuel's body went stiff as soon as Stephaine mentioned the word Humphrey.

"H-How did you know?"

"Humph, a banquet letter from Humphrey House all of a sudden? Where were they when our Lord went missing for months? And how did they know our Lord is doing well? Unless a rat shares what is happening in the house, there is no way a small Knight Household like Humphrey has such influence." Stephaine shook her head and went to the kitchen to prepare food.

Meanwhile, Emanuel's palms started to sweat.

"Her words are right." A cold male voice suddenly came from behind, causing him to jump in fright and turn around.

A burly middle-aged man with a rugged face appeared before his eyes.

"Sir Marcellus!" He bowed his head in greeting.

Meanwhile, Marcellus shook his head and walked towards the guest room.

"I've been monitoring your movement all this time. If you want to live, either live like an honest man and confess your crimes to Lord Thomas or return to the family that employed you to spy on the Holmes House. I give you three days. If you don't choose any of the sides after three days, I will kill you and throw your body in the sewers." Even though he said calmly, Emanuel felt a suffocative feeling.

He stood rooted on the spot for a few minutes and soon sat on the nearby chair.

'Choosing a declining House or a wealthy Knight Family with three factories in their possession, huh?' Logically, it would be right for him to choose the Humphrey Family.

But Stephaine's words still echoed in his mind like divine words.

'Is it possible for the Holmes House to rise? But Humphrey's family taught me everything secretly and trained me to be the best butler. What will happen if I return to the Humphrey Family and tell them I got caught?' Of course, Emanuel knew that he would be discarded immediately.

They would either cut off their ties with him entirely or try to assassinate him for exposing their secrets.

'In the end, my best option is to serve the Holmes Family, huh?' He instantly made up his mind and started walking upstairs.

Emanuel soon confessed everything to Raven and even told him that Humphrey Knight's Family was also one of the Spade Council members.

"Every Knight and Noble Household family secretly nurtures butlers and maids like me and sends them to different households for many purposes, My Lord. Our job is to relay what is happening inside the assigned household to our true owners and keep working as spies until we get caught. If our identities are exposed, we would either be kicked out from both families or killed, My Lord." Emanuel said as he knelt on the floor and confessed everything.

Meanwhile, Raven sat on the bed and pondered.

In truth, he had long suspected such a twist. That was the reason he told Stephaine to keep an eye on him.

'Well, I understand his situation, but I don't want to keep a spy in my house even after I know him.'

[No. Keep him by your side and give him some benefits.]

'But isn't he betraying his original owner?' Raven couldn't help but ask.

[It's not about betraying the owner but keeping his life safe. What would you choose if you were in his position?]

'I would choose the same choice as him.' Raven nodded inwardly and spoke.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Continue what you are doing from now on. But if you want to keep your position as a Head Butler, you need to sign a magic contract in the future. Once you sign the contract, you will be serving the Holmes House until the day you die."

"Yes, My Lord. Thank You!" Emanuel almost prostrated on the floor and thanked him.

"You may leave now." Raven dismissed him by waving his hand.

After that, Raven focused on runology and spearmanship and waited for Jacob's team to return.

On October 14th morning.

A loud knock came from outside as Raven was in a deep sleep.

"What is it?" Raven asked in a sleepy voice.

"Sir Jacob and his team have returned from the capital, My Lord!" Emanuel answered.

"Oh! Tell them to wait in the main hall. I'll come and meet them in a few minutes." Raven spoke as he stood up from the bed.

He quickly changed his robe and wore slippers, stretching his limbs before going to the main hall. The house was quiet, the usual hustle of the mansion muted by the early morning fog outside.

Entering the main hall, Raven was greeted by Jacob, Selene, and Quincy, who stood near the hearth, waiting patiently for him.

He soon moved towards the nearby chair and sat down.

"How is the trip? Did you manage to get all the materials?" He asked.

Selene was the first to speak.

"We made a good profit using the 'Mind of Elixir' potion, My Lord. If you hadn't told me that there were no other low-rank potions to enchant one's mind, we might have sold them at a very low price. As you said, Lady Anastasia used a mortal man to experiment with a diluted version of this potion and was pretty shocked. And she proposed a new deal, My Lord." Selene paused.

"New deal?" Raven was intrigued.

"As long as you promise her to sell this potion exclusively to their shop, she will auction them using the Ravenshield Family name and give you 80% of the total profit. She also said that she can't lower the price due to the 10% Direct Tax on Alchemy products."

"Auction, huh? You guys didn't sell the potions to her directly?" Raven furrowed.

"We sold the first batch of potions, My Lord. She brought each potion at the price of 7,800 gold coins. Only the potions we sell from now on will be put in an auction." Selene answered.

Meanwhile, Jacob cleared his throat and spoke while giving him the spatial ring.

"But the potion ingredients you told us to buy almost cost 64,000, leaving us only 21,800 gold coins, My Lord. And we didn't touch the 9,000 gold coins you gave us as extra, too."

Raven took the spatial ring and checked that all the ingredients were stored inside.

"We also sold the Twin Shadow Viper's corpse for 1,400 and disposed of the cyclops' and the strange goblin's corpse, My Lord," Selene added.

“21,800+9,000+1,400… I have a total of 32,200 gold coins now." Raven stored the money in his inventory and stood up from his seat.

"I'll stay in the alchemy room for the next few days. Do not let anyone get near it." Saying so, Raven fastened his way towards the Alchemy room.

Once he entered the room, he decided to concoct the 'Mind of Elixir' potion using 100 batches of ingredients.

But unlike before, he only decided to concoct the potions for twelve hours daily.

For the first six days, Raven spent most of his time in the alchemy room and focused his full attention on concocting the 'Mind of Elixir' potion.

Thanks to his understanding of the potion materials and continuous experimentation, his progress rate also increased from 30% to 40%.

By the end of 20th October, he managed to concoct 38 'Mind of Insight' potions!

He left the alchemy room around the evening and went to the main hall. After that, he ordered Emanuel to summon Jacob and Selene.

Before long, Jacob and Selene arrived at the main hall and greeted him.

Raven nodded at their greeting and gave Jacob the spatial ring.

"There are 38 'Mind of Elixir' potions in the ring. You two will go to the Capital and sell these potions through auction. Also, ask a favor from Lady Anastasia to give me a fake debt document of 120,000 gold coins with their household seal in it."

"You want to keep your Alchemist identity hidden, huh?" Selene saw through his plan.

"Yes. If I take out 114,000 gold coins to settle the debt, the Spade Council members will ask me how I got the money. If I don't give them a proper answer, the Count and other council members will have the right to confiscate the Holmes properties in the name of investigation. In the worst-case scenario, they will link me with some criminal organization and accuse me of earning money through illegal like smuggling, thieving, etc."

"Will they stoop that low?" Jacob felt the nobles were more like real criminals.

"I'm just stating one of the possible outcomes. Anyway, come back before 12th November. Or else I will be put in a troublesome situation."

"Do we need to buy more ingredients, My Lord?" Selene asked as she took the spatial ring from Jacob's hand and inspected it.

Raven thought for a second and nodded.

"Buy 60 batches of 'Mind of Insight' potion materials. Then, bring the rest of the money back. Also, tell Lady Anastasia that we will give her 10 'Mind of Insight' potions monthly for auctioning."

"Yes, My Lord." Selene nodded.

Meanwhile, Jacob showed a hesitant look and cautiously glanced around.

"Some big shots won't target us, right?" He knew these potions were precious items and felt uneasiness.

'True… But I don't need to worry because the potions are not high-rank. Although these potions are precious for Rank-1 Walkers and mortals, they barely affect Radiant and above Rank Walkers. So, the chance of Jacob and Selene getting targeted by an Expert Rank Walker is close to zero.' And even if an Expert Rank Walker showed up, Jacob would have a slim chance of running away with some injuries.

Raven turned his gaze towards Selene and sighed.

"From now on, use some disguise before meeting with Lady Anastasia, and do not reveal your real identities. Also, tell her to send someone to pick up the 'Mind of Insight' potions every month. That way, we don't need to fear getting robbed or attacked along the way."

"Yes, My Lord." Jacob agreed.

After that, Jacob and Selene bid farewell to Raven and left the mansion in a hurry.

Meanwhile, Raven leaned on the chair and pondered deeply.

'My next plan is to create a small 'Knight Order." However, to create a Knight Order officially, one needed to own a territory as large as a Baronet's.

'But I can gather a few apprentice knights and train them while registering their name in the Mercenary Guild. Reclamation of Azmar town is not possible with my current strength.' He frowned.

"Emanuel, when is the graduation date of Spade Knights Academy?"

"Graduation, My Lord? I think the final-year students always graduate in December. Some rural town academies will conduct the test one or two months before while large academies like Spade Knights Academy will conduct exams just two weeks before the Wizard Selection date." Emanuel said as he ran from the kitchen.

"I want to visit the Academy. If possible, I want to look at all the kids who will graduate this year." Raven said as he checked the time.

Emanuel thought for a second and nodded.

"You were a dropout of the Spade Knights Academy, My Lord. If you talk with the Headmaster, you can enroll midway and graduate from the Academy. That way, you will have plenty of time to get acquainted with the people."

"I don't have time to attend classes. Moreover, my current strength should equal that of the Peak Rank Elite Knight. Do you think I even need a graduation certificate?" Raven said while shaking his head.

'Peak Elite Knight? Then, it's not even necessary to attend the Academy.' Emanuel frowned deeply and soon spoke.

"Nobles usually recruit young apprentice Knights under the name of sponsorship. But to become a sponsor, you need the Headmaster's approval."

"Oh? Ready the carriage. We are going to the Academy."

"May I tag along too, My Lord? Although it's safe to travel in the city during daytime, it's our job to protect you." Marcellus suddenly appeared from the right-side corridor and spoke.

"I won't say no for extra protection." Raven smiled and nodded.

Emanuel readied the Clarence carriage, ensuring it was clean and polished.

Raven and Marcellus stepped into the carriage as the coachman tied the horses and prepared for departure.

Soon, Emanuel also entered the carriage and closed the door.

Within seconds, the coachman whipped the horses and drove the carriage out of the Holmes Mansion.

The road to Spade Knights Academy was beautiful. Mansions with fancy iron balconies, tall windows, and green lawns lined the streets. The clean cobblestone roads sparkled in the morning sunlight.

Horse-drawn carriages filled the streets, carrying passengers in stylish attire. Vendors were setting up their shops, the scent of freshly baked bread and roasted coffee wafting through the air.

The gentle clatter of hooves on the cobblestones and the distant chatter of city life provided a soothing background to their journey.

As they entered Silver Street, the scenery became grander. The buildings were even more ornate.

The Spade Knights Academy appeared head; the five-storied building stood proudly within a sprawling compound surrounded by high walls.

The entrance gate was adorned with designed ironwork, and two guards in uniforms stood vigilant.

A large garden-like yard spread before the Academy, carefully maintained with vibrant flowerbeds, manicured hedges, and stone pathways leading to a grand fountain at the center.

The fountain depicted a knight holding a sword aloft, water cascading down its tiers.

As Raven looked at the amazing scene through the glass window, the carriage halted at the gates.

Emanuel stepped out, showed the Holmes house emblem—a badge featuring a crimson lion holding a sword—to the guard, and informed him about the carriage's ownership.

With a quick nod, the guards examined the emblem and opened the gates, allowing the carriage to pass.