"What's your take, Atarra?"
"It's clearly a void curse, so finely crafted that it couldn't possibly be a mere side effect of a fight with cultists."
"Do the Matriarchs have any way to learn more about it? Knowing who cast it and the curse's purpose is crucial."
"Boy, you're asking for a lot. Anything related to void knowledge is extremely dangerous. There aren't many people in the world who can help you. As far as I’m concerned, you might even be one of the humans who knows the most about it, given that you underwent that supposed void ritual."
Alex reflected on Atarra's last statement. Indeed, he had received knowledge about the void from the Codex as a reward, but it was very rudimentary, focused on the application of certain runes.
"Well, that might help. Would you assist me in conducting a deeper study to determine the runes of the curse? I might be able to identify some."
"Are you seriously thinking of investigating a curse of this caliber? You know well that if we make mistakes, it could activate, and the girl would pay the consequences."
"We don't have many options. We know it's there and dormant, which means it could activate at any moment. It's better to find out what we can before that happens."
Atarra spent the next two weeks helping to decipher as much of the curse's aspects as possible and reverse-engineering the curse's runes. It was a complex process that didn't yield high-quality results, but Alex never really expected to reach a solution.
Meanwhile, Alex had to return to his other duties. His relentless quest for connections was slowly bearing fruit, and the commission for a high-level potion that required the assistance of a grandmaster put him in the spotlight of several personalities within the city. Even those who wanted to look down on him as the country bumpkin he was couldn't ignore the fact that Alex was moving around with extremely rare materials found only within the forest.
He also had to spend a significant amount of time in his office, reviewing proposals, budgets, and planning, as well as receiving guests.
"Ahhh, where do all these papers come from?" Alex asked aloud, rubbing his head in frustration.
"Haha, boy, who said being king would be easy?" Grant responded.
"I know it wasn't supposed to be easy, but being here makes me feel trapped."
"I understand, kid. It's much more liberating to be out there bashing Goblins. I don't envy you at all," Grant chuckled. "By the way, there's been a lot of activity recently in the mansion, and it's increased a lot over the last three days."
"I had to hire city staff to keep this property running. After all, I don't have time to order the rooms and prepare meals for my guests myself, and my subordinates rotate frequently. I can't keep them here; I need them to go out and fulfill their duties," Alex replied.
Alex's major problem was the same as every newly risen dynasty to power: personnel. Regardless of whether it was an absolute monarchy, a parliamentary system, or any autocratic political system, all required people who were not only competent but also trustworthy. This meant that Kragash and Alex's initiates had to continuously go out to fulfill duties with the army, rotating with other initiates who had to come to Alex's side to hone their skills for a while before going out again, and so on.
"However, I must say, kid, you've impressed me. The new Dwarves I brought adapted extremely quickly to this place. When Mistress Lin picked them up, they looked like dolls, barely having a reason to live. But now they run around with high morale."
"Many artisans had been driven away from their craft solely to demoralize them into giving up their secrets. I just offered them the opportunity to work in safety and autonomy. I let them do their things as they want, and in return, they give me what I need. It's a win-win."
"Everyone wins except the Lords who lost such specialized labor."
"If you want, I can pack them up and send them back. Of course, you'd have to explain to Miss Lin that it was your idea."
"Of course, if any fool tries to pack them up and send them back, they'd have to face my axe. I would never let anyone harm them," Grant immediately responded when his master was mentioned.
"So, what are you doing here? Your report is too vague, and I still don't know what I need to prepare for your expedition," Alex asked, realizing he'd spent too much time chatting idly with the muscular Dwarf.
Grant struggled to respond, and Alex was surprised to see the Dwarf act so timidly, leading to a long silence in the room, broken only by a gentle knock on the door.
"Master Alex, Master Bromir sends his reports and requests a meeting."
"Come in, Silvia," Alex replied.
A woman in her forties, dressed as a maid but in better-quality clothing that hinted at her position in the mansion, entered and gently placed a couple of folders on Alex's desk.
"What should I tell Master Bromir?" asked the housekeeper.
"Tell him to come in. There's no problem with him hearing this conversation if the muscle-head here doesn't hurry up with his matters."
"Understood. I'll inform him immediately. Do Master Alex or Master Grant need anything else?"
"Send me a refreshment."
"And for Master Grant?"
"Uh, nothing for me."
"Very well, sir."
"And?" Alex asked, growing impatient with the Dwarf's indecision.
The Dwarf began muttering various words, making it hard to understand and seemingly unable to organize his thoughts correctly.
"How do I put this, kid..."
Just then, Bromir entered and saw his fellow Dwarf struggling with his words.
"Am I interrupting something?"
"No, it seems Goblins ate his tongue, or maybe visiting brothels so often finally gave him a strange disease. I don't know; he's been acting like an idiot for a while now."
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
"You're not making it easy, kid!"
"It's not my job. In case you didn't notice, I have a lot to do," Alex responded, highlighting the piles of papers he still had to review.
Bromir sat on a secondary couch and gave Grant space to express himself.
"You see, my master used to be one of the Lords of the Deep. Or rather, according to tradition, she still is, since it's not something one can renounce."
Alex looked at Bromir, who nodded. "Why would Miss Lin want to renounce being a Lord of the Deep?"
"She had too many problems with her peers, most of which started when Lord Tryna of Greyrock asked for her hand in marriage. Being someone with a lot of influence and wealth, skilled in political games, he quickly cornered Mistress Lin and forced her to accept."
"Something I doubt your master took kindly to."
"Of course. She was frustrated every day, yet she conceded many things to maintain the unity of her metropolis. However, Tryna, that damned rat, kept making her life miserable and humiliating her as much as possible. Finally, she decided to cancel the wedding and face the public's scorn."
"For the public to scorn her, I assume this Tryna was incredibly skilled at controlling public opinion."
"Indeed. He made my master look like a traitor who spat on our ancestral traditions, alienating everyone against her, and she was exiled for a long time."
"Alright, I understand you have issues with this guy, but what are you getting at?"
“Some rumors about you have started spreading through Dwarven circles, probably due to the work of your friend here. It's very likely that Tryna will contact you sooner rather than later to offer a collaboration. I warn you not to take it.”
“Did you come all the way back here to threaten me?” Alex asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Boy, I advise you not to underestimate me,” Grant responded, standing his ground.
“You're not in a position to threaten me, Grant. In case you haven't noticed, I've got you by the balls. Your comrades are my soldiers, their supplies come from me, and your master works for me.”
Grant was taken aback. Although he had intended to intimidate the young human slightly, it quickly backfired. What Alex said was true. Of his squad operating outside, only a third were his original comrades. The rest had been recently recruited with Alex’s funds and his master’s influence. They weren’t entirely loyal to him.
“If you choose to cooperate with him, you'll have to sever ties with my master. There's no way to keep both,” Grant responded, trying to shift the focus.
Alex looked at him intently, his expression serious.
“Grant, I understand your loyalty to your master, and I respect it. But you need to understand that this isn't about choosing sides. If Tryna contacts me, I'll handle it in the way I think is best for everyone. I'm not going to betray your comrades or your master, but I'm also not going to let a potential enemy infiltrate my affairs without scrutiny. So instead of veiled threats, let's focus on how we can work together to avoid any traps Tryna might set for us.”
Grant fell silent, digesting Alex’s words. Bromir intervened, his voice calm.
“Grant, Alex is right. This is a time for cooperation, not distrust. We need to be prepared for any eventuality, and that means trusting our allies. We must ensure we unite as many Dwarves as possible. Remember our goal.”
“Our goal?” Grant asked, confused.
“Your master must have mentioned it to you a dozen times. Our goal is to establish a metropolis. Only from there can we increase our real influence. Otherwise, we'll just be a pathetic shadow of what our ancestors were.”
Grant lowered his gaze, not acknowledging or accepting what had been said. He simply completed his report, requested the supplies he needed, and left the office.
“Do you think he’ll be problematic in the future, boy?” Bromir asked.
“Of course he’ll try something. It would be impossible to pass up the opportunity to screw me over; it’s almost a national sport these days. However, I hope he realizes his mistakes before it goes too far.”
“And if you know he’ll try something, why not stop him?” Bromir was intrigued by Alex’s line of thought.
“I can’t just go around punishing my subordinates before they make mistakes. I need to give them space to err and grow from those errors.”
“Let's hope that fellow realizes you’re not his enemy before he makes a grave mistake.”
“Let’s hope.”
Bromir completed his report. The proactive Dwarf had found someone willing to sell three commercial ships.
“Looks promising, Bromir. What do we know about the seller?”
“He’s an Elf. Apparently, he has some connection with the Reviere Syndicate. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out more than that.”
“The Reviere Syndicate?”
“One of the six major factions in the city.”
“I see. Soon I'll attend my first social gathering in high society. Maybe I can find out more there.”
“One more thing, boss. I'll be on the move soon. There are a couple of deals that need to be finalized, and I can't wait for the ships. I plan to leave in a couple of days. We've accumulated enough materials to sell in the warehouses.”
“Understood. Just register with Silvia what you need to take.”
“Any chance of taking the Fheres?”
“Unfortunately not. The Fheres don’t want to travel by ship. They barely want to travel to the city; they prefer to stay close to the forest.”
“I see.”
Bromir took his leave, and Silvia entered with other maids to clean and organize the room in silence, taking the papers Alex had completed.
“Master Alex, Miss Liora is asking for you.”
“I’ll be down soon. I just need to secure some data.”
Silvia nodded and left.
Alex continued reviewing the last of the papers. Atarra was preparing a major offensive to the east of the city, where pirate hideouts were rumored to be. She requested some of Alex’s engineers to build forts and provisional bridges to move her troops. Atasha, on the other hand, was planning to settle some of her people in nearby areas. According to the information they had exchanged, Alex identified two promising locations for establishing a city, but these were relatively open to enemy attacks, making it necessary to strategically place three forts.
Alex began to murmur to himself, “Bromir needs the ships, licenses, weapons, and materials for Atarra, tools for Atasha, Lin asks for manpower, maybe I can post a job offer nearby. Mmm, I can’t forget supplies for Grant’s men. Comparing with the budget, there’s still 5% left for this month.”
Alex, who had made a rather austere budget, worried about keeping a 35% emergency reserve, which limited the possibilities for others. However, he remained resolute in not incurring debt. For one, there wasn’t much to use as collateral. But the main reason was a lack of trust. Without the trust of those operating in the city, it would be difficult to reach a good deal.
Finally, he was ready and decided to go down to eat with Liora.
“Daddy took so long,” Liora said, pouting.
Alex was taken by surprise but soon recovered. Liora had taken his suggestion to adopt her seriously and had recently started calling him “daddy.” Although Alex hadn’t planned on this when he suggested adopting her, he couldn’t have known the mental impact the constant rejection from her family had had on the girl. He still didn’t know where it came from, but he was starting to think it might have been planned, as the curse could only be placed at birth. It was clear that one of her parents was involved in it.
“Daddy had to finish his work, but now we’ll have a couple of weeks free.”
“Yay, Daddy will have more time to play with me!”
“Yes, but not too much. I’ve also been thinking about something.”
“What is it?”
“Liora, did you learn the same cultivation technique as your brothers?”
The little girl immediately looked visibly downcast at the mention of her brothers. “Yes.”
“And did you make much progress with it?”
“Not really. It was very hard for Liora to practice that.” Then, with a worried look, she exclaimed, “Father doesn’t need to worry. I’ll train harder so you don’t have to leave Liora!”
Liora’s outburst left Alex speechless for a moment, but he decided to play it cool. “Don’t worry, Liora. Actually, I had something else in mind. Since you couldn’t use that technique, would you like to learn mine?”
The little girl’s eyes sparkled. “Can I really do that?” she exclaimed, running to Alex to hug him.
“Of course. That way, you can be like your big brother Kragash.”
“Big brother is so strong. Can I be as strong if I train with that technique?”
“It will depend on you, but I believe you can.”
“Hurray!”
Soon, the rest of the people started arriving at the large table to eat. Alex never ate alone; he always invited all his subordinates who had come with him from the forest. The only ones who ate separately were those hired within the city.
“Hurry up so I can train with daddy afterward,” Liora urged.
Everyone laughed at the little girl’s urgency and nodded. There would be a training session in the afternoon where Alex would train his initiates of this rotation. He would take that opportunity to also initiate Liora into his meditation technique. He began to feel slightly guilty for the parties involved. First, he didn’t know if Liora was really compatible with his technique. He presumed she was based on how he had managed to teach it to the Gnolls, Resh, and even some Dwarves. On the other hand, if he truly made the only living princess of the Whiteclaw Kingdom train in his technique, it would be like officially ending the dynastic line. If Liora erased her current cultivation, small as it was, and used Alex’s technique, it could be said that the tradition of this kingdom would die that day.