Lancel sat and I and others sat down after him, before taking out the things and putting them in front of me.

We are in a conference room for the last day of the negotiations. Which Lancel had decided to attend. It is quite surprising, as trade is his least favorite topic and he stayed away from it.

Today he did not, and he brought Robin with him. Likely as a contingency, in case I wasn’t able to do the job properly in my grief.

Four minutes later, the middle-aged man walked in with his assistant. Today, he looked different. He did not have that trademark smile on his face, instead a somber look.

“Adviser Silver, my condolences,” he said as he stood in front of me. It couldn’t help but surprised me.

I shouldn’t be. These bastards have an extensive spy network. Not to mention, the message spells. There is no doubt they read it, as many other states do.

“Thank you. Administrator Karad,” I said to him softly. He nodded and greeted Lancel, before sitting in front of me.

“The taxes on grade 1 magical material. We want it 25%,” he said, and I felt his skills. They want me to agree with it and the compulsion is so strong that I had nearly opened my mouth to agree before closing it.

He had also used that nasty skill of his; it is giving me a powerful urge to shit. It is really hard to resist it.

I bore it with a smile on my face; even when my clothes were drenched in sweat and activated my own skills. Lawful Suggestion, which resisted the most since it had not turned into a law and barely had any effect, but I am using it.

On top of it, I use Persuasion and Honeyed Words; Persuasion also had resistance since it comes from Adviser Class.

Only Honeyed Words worked perfectly without any resistance.

“You are trying to loot us with taxes, Administrator. How about 5%?” I asked with my brightest smile.

“5%? We might as well not apply any taxes at all,” he said back sharply, with his glaring at me in anger. He looked furious and his skill is making it seem like he is angry, but he isn't.

The lord of Jalrux is not an idiot to keep a hot-headed negotiator. The first any intelligent person looked at a negotiator is their disposition.

“Our city will be thrilled with that wonderful treatment,” I said back with a smile. He glared before countering.

This was an important point, as Grade 1 magical materials are one of the traded. I need to get as low taxes on them as possible.

We have squabbled over it for more than an hour. We have agreed on the number within twenty minutes. It is a fraction that took us a long, but finally, we agreed, and it was favorable.

So much so that Lancel wasn’t able to hold his smile.

With that done, we moved to the second point, which is also tax-related, but agreed within two minutes, before moving third point, which took half an hour.

We did not agree on all the points; some that were disagreeable to both and thus skipped them.

They were in a minority and nothing surprising. It is quite common in the negotiations, especially when those points are not important. Parties could afford to wait over them until the favorable condition appear to talk over them.

Four and a half hours later, we finally finished the last point, but the bastard still had not deactivated his skill.

I am really close to shitting in my pants.

“Adviser Silver, it had been a pleasure to negotiate with you.” He said and shook my hand, and I felt his skill deactivating.

Instantly, all the tension in my body was released.

“Likewise, Administrator Karad,” I said to the middle-aged man. “Lord Weinstein,” he said with a faint bow, before walking out of the room.

“Fred, really?” said Rowling after Administrator Karad left. I first didn’t understand, but a second later, I smelled it and couldn’t help but glare at the middle-aged man.

“I apologize, but the skill was too powerful for me to resist,” said the man and bowed to Lancel, who is glaring at me.

“High Mage,” said Lancel. A moment later, green light enveloped the entire room, especially denser around Fred.

It had lasted for a couple of seconds before it had disappeared and when it did, there was no smell. Even the sweat on my body and sweat produced through it had also disappeared.

For it, I couldn’t help but feel grateful. I don’t like being sweaty when I am not training or having sex.

“Thank you, High Mage York,” I said to the mage. The others also thanked him, especially Fred, who is very embarrassed and scared for the carrier.

Truthfully, it is not his fault. It is not like he is not sufficiently leveled or has weak willpower; he has a hard time controlling his bladder.

I will talk to Lancel about him. He is good and firing him wouldn’t be wise.

“Remus, you have done well. Better than I have thought, despite such circumstances,” said Lancel.

“Thank you, my lord,” I replied. He nodded and walked out of the conference room, with us following behind.

“Now that the negotiations are finished. What are your plans for the afternoon, Remus?” asked Lancel as we entered the elevator. “I will send a few messages to family and do some sightseeing to keep my mind off Edwin,” I replied.

“It is a good idea; all the carriage drivers they have provided us are certified guides. They will give you a good tour of the city,” he said.

“Yes, my lord,” I said.

Soon, we walked out of the majestic city hall and sat in the carriages. We will return here in the evening for a party.

I looked out the window at the beautiful city, while Lancel and Robin talked about an interesting topic. I want to take part in the conversation, but I can’t. I want to show it; I am grieving and being chatty wouldn’t help.

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Acting could be tiring, but important. Humans relate when you show emotions; I don’t want to come out cold-hearted, even though I hated Edwin’s guts.

A little more than a half hour later, we reached the mansion and got out of the carriages.

“Return to the mansion by eight; we do not want to be late for a banquet,” said Lancel, before walking toward his office.

“Do you want company, Remus?” asked Robin. “Thank you, but I will be fine,” I replied, and could see a faint relief. It was polite of him to offer. If I had said yes, he would have stuck with me.

He had plans. He had talked about the things he wants to see in Jalrux, and they are different from what I wanted to see.

Soon, we reached our suites; he went to his, while I went to mine.

When I had entered my suit, I saw it is not empty. There were two women sitting there. Ina and Zela, “Mister Silver, these messages have arrived for you,” Zela said and looked at the pile of envelopes on the table with the seal of Messager guild.

I am sure many of the messages came to her directly.

“Thank you, Zela,” I said and turned to Ina for the important thing. “Have they signed it?” I asked, and she nodded.

A smile appeared on my face seeing that, I sat in front of them before taking the contracts in my hands. There is a seal of the store, along with the signature and enforcement of powerful contract skills.

With this, the deal had become official. As long as Navr does not do something drastic like attacking Renwell, the deal will continue, till it is time to renew it.

“My condolences, Master Silver.” Said Ina as I placed the contract down.

“Thank you, Ina,” I replied and turned to the letters on the desk, all with the sigils of the massage guild. I looked at the senders' names on each letter before reading them with priority.

The first one is from my grandfather; There was only a single line to it, but it shocked me. So much so that I wasn’t able to react to it for a minute.

When I did, the first I did was to take out the firestone and burned it to the ashes. It is not a message others should know.

For a few minutes, I stayed silent, did not open, even a single letter, before finally sighing and before taking out an envelope from my bad and writing a single letter.

“Sent this to massager guild immediately,” I said to Ina. She nodded and walked out, while I turned to the other letters.

Grandfather's letter had a single. ‘If you want it, it is yours.’

I didn’t have to be intelligent to know the meaning of that. He is clearly referring to Barony. He is offering me something my brothers would kill for.

I couldn’t help but feel touched by his offer, but unfortunately, I couldn’t take it.

To be honest, I nearly agreed, even when I had decided I would not even think about it. The allure of such power is too strong; if I had accepted, I would become a baron, and people will call me ‘lord,’.

I will have authority over thousands of people, and they will bow to me. A simple thought of it felt intoxicating.

People will do anything for such a thing, kill for it and they do, but I do not want it.

The control of the family would be too much, and so is danger. I like the freedom I have. I will not have such freedom if I had accepted it.

Most decisions would be made by the family, and I would be only lord in the name; I do not want an empty authority.

My current position is not bad and if I could keep it till Lancel gets the reins of the city. I will automatically become one of the most powerful persons in the jurisdiction of Greltheaven, which includes Nakar baronies and Mirador hold.

I read letters and they fall into two categories: well-wishers and campaigners.

One group of letters is the letters of condolences from friends, colleagues, and family members. The other group is only family members with a different purpose, the cousins and their parents.

They want me to ask Grandfather to suggest their name for lord of the barony. As if I have such clout and even if I had it, I wouldn’t do such a thing, unless I had been asked by Grandfather.

Though, they will only stand a chance if my sister rejects it. Grandfather is going to ask her or already had asked her.

I don’t know if he asked her already or will do it after he received my answer. I will know about it soon enough when I reach there for the funeral.

Soon, I finished with all the letters and turned to Zela. “Do you have any messages?” I asked, and she simply slid the pages with paperweight toward me.

There are over twenty of them, from the well-wishers and the campaigners. I finished very quickly with Fast Reading.

By then, Ina had also returned.

“I am going sightseeing in the city. You ladies are interested?” I asked. Ina nodded, while Zela shook her head. “If it is not important, I like to stay and rest,” she said.

“Ok,” I said, getting up.

I could understand her, it is an undead city. No matter how beautiful it is, she hates it. The undead had taken everything from her and forced her to escape from her home. She did want to see them, more than she needs to.

It is already surprising that Stone mercenaries agreed to come here; in their contract, they could reject undead-related missions.

A few minutes later, I came out of my room looking fresh and excited. There are many things I want to look at, with the little time I have.

I hope I will see at least half of those things.