Ina

The guards bowed and opened the door to the merchant guild for me. I nodded at them and strode inside with my heels clicking loudly across the floor.

I don’t like wearing heels; the pain and uncomfortableness are too much, but I still wear them every day.

I know what I am, and it will never change. Nor I am trying to change that; it may be dark, but it is what made me who I am today, and I am using what I had learned there.

Beauty is a privilege. It makes a lot of things easy, and I used it every day to get things done like I did for the decades in the brothel.

The merchant guild was filled with people, and I could see them looking at me. They are aware, of what I am here for today.

Many nodded at me, but I could also hear their whispers calling me harlot and silver’s whore behind my back. I got used to them a long ago, but they are still a little every time I hear them.

Yesterday, the whole guild resigned to the order of Master Silver. Today, the new members will be chosen. Hundreds have lobbied for the positions; some were powerful and connected.

It took us longer than we had anticipated, but we had chosen the members.

As Master Silver said, the new merchant guild will be lean and mean. Its members have been cut in half, but it is good. Now, all the members will be able to focus on the job better, without interference from others.

We have also cut many of the guilds' powers. According to Master Silver, the merchant guild doesn’t need those powers.

They make the guild sluggish and inefficient.

I didn’t accept it till he showed me the actual proof and I understood, how bad the condition of the merchant guild was.

It is not just the merchant guild of the Greltheaven, but also the most merchant guild in the empire. Only a few merchant guilds, like the merchant guild of Namdar, work efficiently.

Soon, I reached the conference room.

There is no one aside from the two guards at the door. The conference room is empty, aside from the old man.

Mr. Oakley, the legal head of the merchant guild.

“I have prepared the contracts,” he said and looked at the contract in front of each chair, which had the name of the people sitting at the table and the position they would be holding.

We have already sent them their new appointment letters and asked them to keep it silent until this meeting is over.

I picked up the contract and began to read it. The old man is trustworthy, but there is no harm in double-checking things. I especially check the clauses that could mess things up.

A few minutes passed, and I checked a few more contracts, before walking out of the conference room to check a few other things.

Half an hour later, I returned and waited.

Click!

I didn’t have to wait for long. The door opened, and the first person who came out was the old man. He was smiling when he came and the smile on his face became even bigger when he saw his name on the head chair.

He had his eye on the chair since the merchant guild opened and in the past two months, he had sat on it as the interim head, but today the position became permanent.

Soren Arryn is the head of the merchant guild from today.

“Adviser,” he greeted, “Guild-master Soren,” I replied. He smiled and walked toward his head; he looked at the names on the table and his expression couldn’t help, but change.

He may have heard the rumors, but still, the man didn’t expect them to come true.

He had just sat down when the door opened, and another man came out. He is a short bald man in his late fifteen and when he saw his name with the vice-guildmaster below it, tears started to flow out of his eyes.

“Adviser Knox,” He greeted, before turning to Soren. “Guildmaster Soren,” he said a moment later.

“Vice-guildmaster Reed,” replied the man with a smile.

Beckett Reed was the deacon before one of the two, representing the small business. He was the deacon in name but didn’t have much power compared to other deacons, most belonging to mid and big business.

When I met him after the battle, he directly asked for the position of vice-guildmaster when I had stated that half of the positions would be filled by the small business.

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I told him; he would be considered. If he was able to keep, the businesses from running away.

I have to say, he did a much better job than I had expected. Not only he was able to persuade most of the small business owners to leave, but he was also able to bring some to the city, in the past two weeks.

Master Silver has a high hope for him.

A few seconds later, the third person came. She is a woman in her mid-thirties; tall, beautiful, and savvy.

She is the second person from a small business to get the position of vice guildmaster. She was nothing before the battle, where her husband died the strange circumstances.

She took the reins of the construction business in her hand, and it was thriving, grabbing many constructs with the consortium of the business.

She seemed to be hardly believing, it was all true. She is a few people who hadn't lobbied at all for it; it must have been a real surprise when a letter arrived in the morning.

Soon, another person, a woman again in her late forties.

“Adviser Ina,” she greeted with a familiar smile. “Vice Guildmaster, Reija,” I said. I knew this woman well. She had come to the Navr with me many times; she is daring and ambitious.

She had lobbied hard for the position and I, myself, had suggested her name. She will be a representative of a mid-size business along with the man, who came behind her.

We had cut the positions of vice-guild master’s in half. There are now, only four positions, two held by the representative small business and the other two held by the representatives of medium-sized business.

After them, more people came. All deacons.

There used to be twenty-four deacons' positions. We had reduced it to half. Twelve, of which six went to small businesses, three to mid-size businesses, and the last three to big ones.

It is the opposite of before when over 70% of positions were filled by the big businesses and last with mid-scale. The small bossiness had only two seats and it was nominal, without much power.

Master Silver is focusing more on small businesses, calling them the lifeblood of the city.

The same is going on with the woman. 40% of the seats here are occupied by them. four times more than before, where they only have three seats; all deacons, of course. Now two women vice-guild masters.

There are many like Soren who kept their jobs. Though it only happened with Guild-master and deacons’ positions; it didn’t happen with the vice-guild master.

We had offered three former vice-guild masters the position of deacon, but all of them rejected, feeling disrespect. It might feel like it, seeing it is a demotion, but still, they should have accepted it.

I could see the great future of the city and the merchant guild under Master Silver. It wouldn’t take the city long to reach the level, it had been before the attack and then go beyond it.

“Please, read the contracts in front of you. You all have fifteen minutes to sign them,” I said.

They have got the positions, but it won’t be official till, they have signed it.

Some had started to read the contracts carefully, while others simply read for a minute before signing them. They might have signed without reading, didn’t want to be seen desperate.

Click!

Soon fifteen minutes passed, and Mr. Wembley collected the contracts, when the door opened, and everybody got up.

“Lord Silver,” they greeted as he walked inside.

I could see, some of the people faintly shuddering under the power of his skill. It is suppressive; it is a powerful skill. I wish I had something like this; I had presence skill, but it worked as Master Silver’s other presence skill.

It makes people see me more attractive and receptive to me. It doesn’t suppress, like this new skill of Master Silver.

I will never get it. It is a ruling class skill.

“Everyone, congratulations on your new positions,” he congratulated. “Thank you for the opportunity, Lord Silver,” said Soren Arryn and others in unison.

“The merchant guild is now, smaller than before and it is not because of us losing a quarter of the population,” he said, drawing the laughs.

“It is because the old merchant guild was fat, with many responsibilities it could not handle. The merchant guild now is leaner, with focus responsibilities and people who are capable of achieving them,”

“I am confident in all of you. I know you will handle your responsibilities, exemplarily.”

Many nodded with the smile on their faces. Especially the new faces, the ones who never thought, they would sit here one day. Every one of them is capable and has something to offer.

If they were not, we wouldn’t have chosen them despite the massive lobbying they have done.

“I will not say much, other than wishing you all good luck.”

“I am sure, under the leadership of the guild leader, you all will do well and help the city, its people, and your fellow merchants reach the height of prosperity, they have never seen before,” he finished, and people applauded.

“We will not disappoint you, my lord,” said Soren Arryn, and Master Silver smiled, but his skill became stronger.

“I know, you will, Guildmaster Arryn,” he replied before the power of the skill went back to what it was.

He didn’t talk about a single word of the consequence of failing, but with that skill, he told them, there would be.

The city is in dire condition, and everybody needs to do their best to move it forward. We will accept mistakes, but they will need to learn from the mistakes they make. Those who do not will find that cushy position gone.

He didn’t stay any further and walked out with his guards following behind them. It is a busy day for him.

He is inaugurating the new police headquarters and a couple of police stations today. There are also several meetings with people coming from merchant state.

The door closed, and I sat in his seat, before turning to the merchants.

“Lord Silver is giving you complete freedom to do your job. That we will not select, who will do what job. It will be the responsibility of the guild master,” I said, and a surprise flashed in the eyes of many.

Though joy had lit up on the face of Soren Arryn. Some powers may have taken away from the merchant guild, but in exchange, they got the freedom.

It was not the case before; the lord and the advisers used to decide on everything.

It used to depend on lobbying and connections, which is one reason why the wrong people were responsible for the wrong things and small business representatives were just figureheads without any responsibility.

“Though we will provide some guidance,” I added and opened the file in front of me.

Half an hour later, the meeting ended, and everyone left except for the guild master.

“Please thank the Lord Silver for giving me this responsibility. I will not disappoint him,” said the old man. “Lord Silver knows that already, Guild master. It is why, you were chosen,” I replied, and he smiled.

“Though he did want me to tell you something,” I added.

“I am willing to follow any order, my lord has,” he said. To that, I shook my head. “It is not an order guild master, just a suggestion,”

“He wants you to distribute the responsibilities on them based on their capabilities, rather than the gender and the wealth they have,” I said.

“I understand,” he said.

I smiled and walked away. I have a busy day today; there are several meetings I need to attend, one with Bishop. I also need to meet Director Locke. He said he needed my help with something.