“This is the plan, then?” asked Count Darrow, as I placed the file in front of him.

“Yes, my lord. I hope you will approve of it,” I said, with a palpable nervousness in my voice.

He didn’t reply and instead opened the file and begin to read it.

I finished the plan yesterday, but I have taken help from a scribe and artist to make it more appealing. I have added a little modern twist to it. It's a small one, but it made the texts much easier to read.

He finished the first page in seconds, before turning to the next and next a few seconds after.

He kept reading in silence, without change in an expression or a comment, which he usually does when he was presented with a plan.

Everyone in the room turned their eyes to the file, including the Lancel, who was only mildly interested a minute before, but now got quite interested.

Though he didn’t get up from his spot. He just looked at his father, who was turning page after page. Sometimes, he would stop at the page and stare for seconds to a minute before turning the page.

This silence felt unbearable to me, but I bore it as I watched Count Darrow for any reaction.

He isn’t having any.

Finally, after a little over twenty minutes. He finished reading the file and looked up.

“I wish Damon Hardt had been here,” he said. “I could summon him if you want to my lord,” said Mage York, but Count Darrow just shook his head and turned to me.

“You have surprised me with this plan, Remus. I didn’t think you would come with something like this,” he said, clearly sounding surprised.

Also impressed.

“Trade with Oksall is important to us, my lord. If this plan worked, it might open the doors of direct trade with the merchant state,” I said to him, to which he smiled.

“This plan of yours is the first thing in a while that gave me some hope of it happening,” he said.

“Thank you, for your praise my lord,” I replied, feeling relieved in my heart. I had worked really hard for it. To be honest, I had feared he would throw away the file, thinking it was too far-fetched.

It is a not simple plan and would be expensive for Oksall, but will also provide them, with tremendous benefits.

“Father, it is good?” asked Lancel, feeling curious. “You can take a look yourself,” he said and gave the copy of the file to his son.

Lancel begin to read, but unlike his father, he didn’t guard his emotions well, and he was also reading too fast, that he finished in less than five minutes.

“It is too far-fetched. It is not going to work,” he said, throwing the file on the table.

“But if it worked. It will give us an opportunity to trade with the second merchant city-state and open a new trade route.”

“You do know how important that is, right?” he asked as he looked at his son with all seriousness.

“Yes, Father,” agreed Lancel.

Count Darrow smiled and turned to me. “I will check on a few things if everything is perfect. Then, I will contact the Oksall,” he said, and I smiled.

Most important is Count Darrow. For it to succeed, we will need to meet important people, important as ruling council members.

Only Count Darrow has a reach that high.

“You have worked hard, Remus. This plan of yours is good,” he praised, before taking the file back in his hand.

“Thank you, my lord,” I replied and prepared for what was to come.

Nearly two hours later, I walked out of his office with my back drenched. I felt like I have fought an intense battle. Count Darrow had asked every type of question related to the plan; some I had not thought he would.

I have done nearly all the research myself and thanks to it; I had answered each and every one of his questions to his satisfaction.

I don’t know how long it would take him to verify the plan before we started the preparations, but it shouldn’t take long.

Count wants trade; the money it brings. From a little what I could gather, the prince had been asking him to increase the trade. He needs a lot of money to finance the battle for succession, he is preparing to fight.

I think there are some things that are going on in secret. Prince is buying things from Meldhorn, dangerous things; that should be secret.

Count Darrow is being very careful about these things, and I only caught a whiff by sheer accident.

It made me very curious, but I crushed that curiosity hard immediately. It is something I should stay far away as possible. If I so much dare to dare to dip my finger into it, I will disappear from the world forever.

I don’t want that; there are many things I have to achieve.

“Mage Aldridge has arrived in the city,” Zela informed me as I sat in the carriage. “Ask him to come to the establishment in an hour,” I said.

She nodded and closed her eyes.

I have interviewed seventeen mages, after discussing them with Carla and Zela, along with the background checks I had ordered.

I had chosen Mage Aldridge.

Today, I asked him to come for the negotiations. We have already discussed most of the conditions through the messages.

The only important thing have is the salary. If we form an agreement on it, I will hire the old man.

Fifteen minutes later, the carriage pulled into the establishment. Stone opened the door, and I walked out with Zela and walked into the establishment.

There, I saw something that made me shake my head in exasperation.

“He is not an animal, but a monster, Carla. You should keep him on the leash,” I said to her, seeing Fang in Carla’s arms.

Her cheeks reddened at my words, but she didn’t put him down.

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“I couldn’t resist him. Look at him, he is so cute,” he said and kissed him. It had been three days since I had let her touch him. In these three days, she went from hesitantly petting him to carrying him in her arms.

She is not only carrying him but also letting other girls pet him, which is not safe.

I am just glad; I had asked Stena to keep an eye on him; not let him go out of her eyes.

Till now, he hadn’t shown any sign of instability, but it had been less than a month since I had started training him. Seeing her like this, I made sure there was always a guard around him when I am with him.

I walked toward my office, and she walked with me, not putting Fang down from her arms.

The little monster also seems to enjoy being carried by her. He didn’t stay in my arms for more than a minute before he tried to wiggle away.

Soon, we reached my office, and she put him down on his cushion bed, which I have placed in all my offices.

He seemed to enjoy them more than the pen.

Like always, I picked up the first file on last night’s earnings and read through it all in a minute before putting it down.

The numbers are good, rising slowly nearly every day.

It had been twenty-six days since the establishment was running at full capacity and the business was good. Not only the establishment but my other business is also doing good.

Ina is currently in the Navr. This would be her third trip four, if I count the first one with me. This time, we have taken fourteen merchants from Norke.

She will be leaving Navr tomorrow at dawn and two days after that, she will be back in the city, bringing me another big check.

The next trip is going to be important; we have got interest and assurance from two other cities of the region and their merchants will be going to Navr. Ina had played a big part in it.

Time passed as I looked through the things and soon, the intercom had lit up.

‘Master Silver. Mage Aldridge and had arrived,’ Jill informed through the intercom.

“Send him inside,” I said.

Click!

A second later, the door clicked opened and an old man came inside. “Mage Aldridge,” I greeted and offered him the seat.

“Thank you, Mr. Silver,” he said and sat down.

“You have got the complete details of the job, right?” I asked him. I sent him the complete details of the job yesterday, including the contract for him to go over.

It was a standard service contract, and he only asked for minor modifications. Most of which I had agreed to.

Now, the only thing that has remained.

“Yes, and I won't have a problem in accomplishing the task, but let me tell you, it will not be quick and not all of them will cast the spells.” “It might be a year or more before the first person could even cast the spells,”

“The resources it will require also going to be very expensive,”

“I am aware of the facts, Mage Aldridge,” I replied. It will be a very expensive and long process, but if I had succeeded. The reward coming from it will be just as good.

“Let’s get to the main point. How much salary do you want?” I asked directly, and his expression turned serious.

“Forty-thousand imperials per month,” he stated, and there is no change in my pace, but I had activated Price Is Right.

“It is more than double your previous salary. The number of people you will be teaching is also much less,” I said. Of course, with the money I paid to the grey guild, I have even got to know the salaries, he was being paid at his previous jobs.

“That might be true, but I will be responsible for teaching them everything. From spell theory to cast actual spells,” he countered.

He will not be teaching alone. He will bring three of his students, as he did in two academies, where he had been employed in the past few months.

“How about twenty-thousand imperials? It is 20% more than your previous salary,” I said, increasing the power of my skill to its fullest.

“No, it will not do,” he said, shaking his head.

“Thirty-five thousand imperials?” he asked. “Twenty-five thousand,” I offered, but once again, he shook his head.

“I will go as low as thirty thousand. I will not accept a single imperial below it,” He said and I know looking at his eyes, that he will not be below it.

“Thirty-thousand imperial, it is,” I agreed.

I had asked Zela, Valentina, and even Mage York. All of them had said I would need to pay for the twenty-five thousand imperials to forty thousand imperials for the teacher mage I want.

Thirty-thousand imperials, which are three million crowns. I will be paying for the teaching alone.

I am already spending two-hundred million to create special infrastructure, and I would need to spend more on the resources such as books, tools, and other things.

It will be a huge expense.

“This is the contract,” I said and forwarded the copy to him after adding the salary amount to it.

He took it in his hands and begin to read it.

It took him nearly half an hour to read through the thick contract. After doing that, he did something surprising.

He took the pen and began signing it.

Though I have agreed with the changes, he asked for the contract yesterday. I still thought he would have some condition, but apparently, he didn’t.

He signed on the last page, and I felt the contract clicking.

“Welcome aboard, Mage Aldridge,” I said and shook his hand. “Thank you. Mr. Silver,” he said.

For the next hour, we discussed things he will need for teaching. He gave me a big list of things, which are going to need a lot of money to buy.