“Bastard!” Count shouted.

Saying the Count is angry is an understatement. He is beyond angry and the reason for that is fear.

I learned today that the Count isn’t good at dealing with fear. Especially of the enemies who didn’t follow the conventional rules of the world.

They would kill even the noble of Count Darrow’s standing, if they felt like it. There is a lot less protection for a noble like him, than a conventional enemy, who would ransom them for a large amount of money.

I looked at the poor man at whom the Count had screamed. A raven-haired man in his late fifties with a thin pale body.

He is Colonel Cardin, the man who had brought the people from the Mirador Hold. He is not a fighter. He used to be and quite a good one at that, but not anymore, since his injury.

It is partially the reason; the Count is angry.

The main reason, the Count, is angry, is because he had brought five thousand men, instead of the ten thousand, that he had asked for. Also, the men he brought were the new recruits.

They were part of the ten thousand men, that came to Mirador Hold a few months ago. They replaced the more experienced ones in the hold that went back to Prince Grelt’s territory.

I felt quite bad for the man. Dane had intentionally sent him here.

Dane didn’t like him, always handling him the responsibilities that were below his rank. It could be said to be the first time, he received responsibility that is equal to his rank.

Though not the one, he would like to have.

“I asked for ten thousand good men, with Liston or Briar leading them. Instead, I got five thousand inexperienced men, led by a man, who could barely hold the weapon,” said Count angrily.

“Apologies, my lord, but Commander Dane had said, this is all he could spare with the movement of undead from Navr,” replied the man in an even tone.

Which seemed to make him even angry.

Commander Dane had sent half of what the Count asked, and his explanation is that he had sensed the movements from Navr. It might be an excuse or a truth, nothing could be said be said without proof.

“My lord, there is no use in being angry at Colonel Cardin. We should instead assimilate the men he brought into the city’s force and ask for more men from Commander Dane in a firm tone,” I advised.

He is not the only one who is angry, everyone is. We all are worried about our survival, but letting this anger guide our judgment wouldn’t help.

We need to be rational when a dangerous enemy has arrived at our doorstep.

The Count closed his mouth and turned to Mage York.

“Inform Dane that I want more men and tell him, he wouldn’t like the consequences if he didn’t follow the order properly this time,” said the Count.

Mage York nodded and closed his eyes, while the Count had turned to us.

“The undead of Vris’alud had captured the Ashton Harbor, and they have sent a message to all cities, asking them to surrender, but we will not surrender,”

“We will fight till our last breath and achieve victory against the damn undead,” said the Count, and everyone sitting across the table nodded.

One by one, people left until only Atticus, and I remained.

“Atticus, absorb the numbers quickly. Remus, maintain contact with the other cities of the region and inform me if something has come up,” he said.

“Yes, my lord,” I and Atticus said in unison.

I went back to the control room; I had set up and began to contact my contacts. This is the new responsibility I received, along with the ones I have.

It is night, and I have not gone to the establishment. Since I came back from the baronies, there is no time.

Undead had come to the region and captured one of our cities, and they are threatening to capture others as well.

The damnest thing about it is that there is no help. Not from the prince, not from the empire, or any allies. This is the problem, we will solve ourselves and we are ill-equipped to do that.

“Any information on undead?” I asked, and there was nothing.

The undead once again started hunting the mages and scouts and they were expanding the area every second, killing anything that came in their paths.

We don’t have powerful scouts that could evade them.

Robin is negotiating with the adventurers of the merchant state, but it will take some time before we get any.

Till then, we are completely blind to the movements of the undead and that is very bad.

It allows the enemy to surprise us, and we do not want to get surprised anymore. The surprises we have received throughout the day, were already big enough that affected the city from which it would take weeks or even months to recover.

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Two and half hours passed, and I went to the Count’s office again and reported my progress, before coming out a few minutes later.

This time, I didn’t go back to the control room and instead went out and sat in my carriage.

The streets are emptier than normal; one should expect there would be more people running from the city and there would have been if the circumstances were normal, but they are not.

The merchant states have closed their borders, and, except for goods, nothing is going in and out. The people didn’t want to go to the mainland.

So, people are staying in their homes waiting. They would bolt if more bad news came and even the gates wouldn’t be able to stop them.

The carriage got near to the establishment and the scene I saw there, surprised me. There has always been a crowd in front of the establishment since it turned to the legacy, but what I am seeing now is at a completely different level.

There are far more carriages than there usually are.

Hun!

My carriage entered through the back gate, and immediately, I sensed the change. Usually, such a change is hard to sense, unless I see the core, but now I am sensing it clearly.

I closed my eyes, and for a moment later; the sun appeared in front of me.

I didn’t look at it, I looked at the emotions and despite expecting it, I couldn’t help, but get surprised, before a big smile appeared on my face.

The emotions entering the sun are four to five times higher than then normal, but it is not what made me happy. It is the quality of emotions; the amount in which the establishment is getting is shocking.

I didn’t need to get shocked, seeing the conditions.

The emperor is dead, and the undead are attacking the region. People are scared and want to get away, but can’t. So, they come to the only place that will let them do that, even if it is for a short time, the establishment.

I opened my eyes as the carriage stopped and walked out, before entering the establishment.

I saw the restaurant and the bars on the first floors, and they seemed rowdy than usual. People are dancing on the floors and some even making out, without care for the world.

Such scenes are rare on the first floor, they usually occur on the floors above.

I watched for a few seconds before going to the floor above. I wanted to watch more, but I didn’t have time. I want to finish a few things as soon as possible and sleep because getting it in the next few days would be hard.

I was on the fourth floor when Caena came.

“Have you sensed it?” she asked, and I nodded. “Such powerful emotions. If the establishment gets them daily, Ashav would be a very happy man,” she said, and I smiled.

The deal I made with him had got a good response. I already gave him the second batch and got things in return.

With the quantity and quality of emotions, the establishment is absorbing. It will be producing a lot of emotion essence this month. Which made me happy, because I am going to need a lot to survive, the times ahead.

Click!

I walked into my office with Caena, where Margaux was already waiting.

“How are girls?” I asked as I sat in my seat. “Worried, but keeping themselves busy,” she replied.

“Does anyone want to leave?” I asked. “Surprisingly, no,” she replied, and it surprised me. I thought many girls would want to leave, especially the ones we brought two days ago.

It seemed like, they were trying the wait and watch approach like most people in the city.

“Let them leave if they want,” I said, and she nodded.

I am not going to keep them here against their will in a time like this. If they want, they can leave, with complete freedom.

A few minutes later, I walked into my room and lay on the bed to sleep. I was so tired, that I fell asleep the moment my head touched the pillow.

“Mr. Silver, wake up,” said Zela, waking me from my sleep.

“Did something happen?” I asked as I opened my eyes and looked at her, hoping it was not the bad news.

Thankfully, she shook her head.

“Count had summoned you. He wants you in his office immediately.” She informed and all the relief vanished.

I looked at the clock and saw, it was a little past three in the morning. The Count wouldn’t have summoned me at this time if it wasn’t important or it would have been good news.

He couldn't wait to tell the good news. There is no such luxury when it comes to the bad news.