Mid Evening - Late Spring : Kingdom of Zan

-Wow.. I'm already here?- The flight was shockingly short. I wasn’t even able to get up to speed before I passed the Kingdom of Zan and Kaelallan’s border and saw the city I was looking for. -That merchant had one hell of a sense of direction..-

After taking my leave from the palace, I flew westward for quite a while, but eventually, I figured the ancient-looking map I found in the library wasn’t really adequate for directions and had to land and ask an old merchant on a lone road.

Although it was a bit complicated to get him to understand exactly what I wanted, I eventually got him to point in the direction of Zan’s border fortress city and flew straight there. -I'm honestly more impressed by just how on-the-money his directions were than anything else…-

Quickly giving the city and its surroundings another scan to make sure the Nation Ranks hadn’t already left yet, I found a decent spot to land and tried to touch down somewhat lightly.

*Crunch* The ground shattered like glass.

"Haah…" -I guess it’s gonna take some getting used to with this weight…- Not wanting to deal with it, I changed to my humanoid form and started making my way to the city, casually optimizing my movements as I ran.

Seeing the knights at the gate, I figured it would be too tedious to enter the city legally and simply cloaked myself and walked on through.

But once I was inside, I noticed there was quite a lot of commotion. -Why’s everyone rushing around?- Walking over to a nearby food stall, I decided to try and ask about it. "Sir, do you know what this commotion is all about?"

"Hm? Are you not from around here?" Seeing me shake my head, he continued casually. "Well, long story short, the king gathered several Nation Ranks for a dungeon subjugation mission. They are expected to leave in a couple hours, so most people are preparing their seats to see them as they depart." He paused for a moment to watch the countless people frantically running around. "They were originally going to leave at sunset but they met some complications."

-So they just told the public that it's a subjugation mission, huh...- I honestly wasn’t too surprised. "Hm, I should try and find a spot too."

"It might be difficult, but it’s a rare opportunity to see some of the strongest people on this half of the continent."

-Does that mean they're all big names, or just that Nation ranks, in general, are ‘the strongest’…- Figuring it wouldn’t really matter, I turned back to him with a curious look. "So, what are you selling?"

"Ah, it's just some meat dried over a fire. They're quite good if you'd like to try one." Before checking if I even wanted it, he handed me a piece of the dry and stiff meat.

Thinking it couldn’t be that bad, I reluctantly nibbled a bit, but it made my eyes light up. -Beef jerky! To think it’d exist in this world too.- "Do you have a payment artifact?"

"Actually, yes." Quickly reaching into a drawer behind the bar, he pulled out and pushed forward a small, rock-looking device.

Assuming how it worked, I casually set my ID on it.

"The number on the artifact, which says 0 right now, is how much it costs. How much would you like to buy?"

"I guess I'll take half a kilogram." Although I wanted a bit more than that, I was too lazy to carry it.

"That'll be one silver then." He paused as he pulled out a stack of three cards and set them on the back side of the artifact. "Sorry that it's a little pricey."

-Do those cards tell the artifact how much to charge?- "No not at all. Could I actually give a little extra?" Although I was by no means wanting to just give away everything, I saw an opportunity. "Maybe I should call it an investment."

The man immediately raised his eyebrow. "You would like to invest in me?"

"Yes, actually. What are your thoughts about it?" As I asked him, I slammed several strips of jerky into my mouth.

"Well, sir, this is just a small stall. Even with your investment, I don't think it will go anywhere great."

-To think he knows his limits…- "Well, how about this. I'll give you 20 gold, but in return, you need to expand this business as best you can and put aside 20% of the business's sales for me. Also, you should call it beef jerky instead of dried meat. It'll sell better."

The man's eyes nearly bulged out of his head as I spoke. "Sir I'm not sure why you believe in me so much, but-"

"So, you’re going to refuse?" -Even if I invest 100 gold and he loses it all, I could just make a platinum coin to get it back. It'd take a lot to cause inflation anyways.-

But the man didn’t seem to think it was a small sum, like me. "I'm not sure what you see in me, sir, but…" He was incredibly reluctant. "I will humbly accept."

"Good decision." As he stood up from his bow, I reached out to shake his hand. "My name is Vasilias Whyte."

He gripped my hand immediately. "I'm Hugh Denys." After finally pulling his hand away, he frantically looked for a piece of paper and ink. "Here, please write the conditions for the investment on this. I will go to the guild for a proper contract right away."

"Alright." I paused as I was writing. "What are you going to call the business?"

"Well, going off of your suggestion, how about 'Hugh's Jerky'?"

-A little plain, but I guess it works.- Quickly getting back to writing the outline of the contract, I wrote:

'Contract between Vasilias Whyte and Hugh's Jerky Business

Investment: 20 gold

Return: 20% of all company sales. Money is held as liquid until Vasilias Whyte claims it.'

After adding a few extra details to close the legal loopholes I knew off the top of my head, I handed him the paper.

Hugh quickly read the paper without missing any details. "S..sir Whyte, if you don't mind me asking…"

"Hm? What is it?"

"I..I was wondering what the money being held as liquid means?"

-Ah, I guess that’s something only merchants would really know…- "Just think of it as money that you can still use and spend if needed, as long as it gets returned with interest."

"Ah, that makes much more sense." Surprisingly, it seemed like he actually understood what I meant.

"Anything else catch your eye?"

"No sir, it's perfect." Gulping down some saliva, he set down the ‘contract’ and added several cards to the artifact until the display showed 20,001,000.

Not seeing anything wrong with it, I casually set my thumb on the corner of my ID to confirm the ‘purchase’.

*Click*

"Thank you, generous sir, for your investment. I will make sure to use the money wisely and effectively!" After checking his own ID to check his balance, he walked around the bar and gave me a deep bow. "Thank you!"

I couldn’t help but smile at his excitement. "I look forward to seeing how your business grows, Hugh."

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"Of course!"

Thinking that was everything, I got up from my seat, but stopped almost immediately. "Ah, before I leave, is there any sort of thug group that would hamper you?"

He paused for a moment before speaking. "No sir."

"Does your hesitation mean there is?"

"No sir, there are people to watch out for, but they aren't a group of thugs."

"Who is it?"

With a careful glance around, he leaned toward me. "It’s one of the local nobles. He tries to crush those who are rising in class." He started to break into a cold sweat the more he talked.

"Is he the only one?"

"Yes sir."

"Which estate does he live in?"

"T..the one just in front of the satellite palace."

"Hmm…" Quickly thinking back to the view of the city from the air, I took a good guess at what he meant. "Alright, I'll take care of that real quick. You don't need to worry about him anymore."

"Sir!" Before I could walk off, he called me back. "I was planning to just move."

"No, it's alright. It's easier if I just take care of it. Have a good night, Hugh! I expect good things from you."

Seeing that he couldn't change my mind, he gave me another deep bow. "Thank you again, Sir Whyte!"

-He’s got a talent for reading the room as well, huh…- With a smile on my face, I turned away and made my way up the street.

But before I knew it, I arrived at the estate.

-This city is smaller than I thought...- Casually putting on my hood, I quickly got myself ready. -Time to get used to this body.- "Ilios, just follow me from a distance for a bit." *pat-pat* Seeing him sit down with his usual smile, I finally reached for the greatsword on my back and started walking towards the gate. *tap-tap-tap*

The guard was quick to try and stop me. "Sir please stop right th-"

*Shing* Before he could finish talking, the sword cleanly sliced through the knight's body. *Clank*

"AHHH!" A woman walking along the street behind me screamed as the body splattered against the ground.

-Welp, let's make this quick!- *fwoosh* Using my aura as I ran, I scanned the entire estate and mercilessly slaughtered those who showed any kind of hostility.

It took less than a minute for me to rip through the entire estate, leaving only a trail of sliced-apart bodies in my wake, but once I turned onto the last hallway, I came face to face with a large double door covered in gold and beautiful velvet cloth.

-How gaudy…- *BaNg* Kicking in the door without a second thought, I scanned the room and saw a chubby man covered in jewelry and fancy clothes behind a thick wooden desk.

His confidence was genuinely mind-blowing. "You really do have some audac-" *Shing-CRUNCH* With a nearly instantaneous slash from the ceiling to the floor, his body was blown in half and the stone floor was shattered.

"Haah…" -Talk about a pig…- But as I went to sheath my sword, my aura felt something move in the corner of the room. -Someone hid from my aura?!-

Thinking it was someone skilled, I whipped around and jumped back onto the broken desk.

But instead of seeing a skilled knight standing in the corner like I expected, my eyes were met with a young, white-haired fox-demihuman girl.

-I couldn't have missed her when I scanned the room, right?- Looking through my aura again, I noticed a bubble around the girl that my aura couldn't naturally enter.

-She's controlling her aura to that extent?- Not wanting to take any risks, I forced my aura into hers and scanned her body.

She was fairly roughed up, covered in grime, and wearing rags, but didn’t have any weapons. -So this little girl learned that kind of control on her own?-

As I walked up to her and idly thought to myself, I realized I had shown her a really gruesome scene, but just by looking at her eyes, that worry vanished.

Instead of wearing a look of fear or disgust, she was staring at me with a look of awe.

-Thank goodness I didn’t traumatize the poor girl.- Although I wasn't sure why at the time, I was unusually caring to the girl.

Casually leaning down, I undid her bonds with magic and took off my hood. "Are you alright, young girl?"

Instead of saying anything though, she just looked me in the eyes and lightly nodded.

"Haah... Do you have any family I could bring you to?"

The gleam in her eyes disappeared when I mentioned her family. "I..I'm.. o..kay.. on my.. o..own..." She seemed to have trouble speaking.

"Hmm... Let's get out of here first then. We can talk about what to do later. How does that sound?"

She nodded her head immediately.

"Haha, alright." -She really is quite cute…- With her agreement, I reached down and gently picked her up. -This should work…-

Quickly walking back over to the shattered window behind the desk, I used some earth magic to break down the wall and jumped out.

The next minute or so was simply spent running away from the estate. I only stopped once I got to an alleyway not far from the main road.

-No one is nearby.. this should work... I should have a bit of time left too…- "So what do give you for you to be alright?" -Why did I ask that like she would know...-

But as I tried to think of my limited options, she spoke up. "A.. sword..." She pointed to my greatsword with a gleam in her eyes.

"..." -With that kind of talent for aura.. maybe…- After taking a moment to think, I failed to come up with a better idea and caved. "Alright, I'll make you one really quickly then."

The gleam in her eyes only grew brighter when I said that.

"Haah…" -How is giving her a weapon the best thing I can think of…-

The next several minutes were wrapped in silence as I tried to make a sword she could use currently as well as in the future.

It took quite a while to really figure it out, but at the end of it all, I made a titanium rapier with a black, grippy handle, gold-trimmed hand guard, and metallic blade. -This is definitely too eye-catching, but damn, it looks good…-

For some finishing touches, I added several runes to it, all efficient enough to run off the wielder's aura alone.

Their combined effort worked similarly to strengthening and sharpening runes. Basically, over time, the more the sword was used, the stronger and sharper it would get. -But is this really enough?-

Figuring it was still basically just a really good rapier, I decided to add a small, movable cover that hid a complicated wind rune. Put simply, when supplied with mana, the rune would activate and let the user create blades of wind to attack from a few meters away.

*fwip-fwoosh* With a quick swing in the air, I watched as the blade of wind traveled a few meters before losing strength and dissipating. -Perfect…-

As I lowered the blade, I gave it a simple sheath and wrapped it in a considerable amount of cloth to hide it. -I really should have made it look plain…- But even though I thought that, I also felt proud to have made it.

"Hooh, alright." Looking down into the girl's eager eyes for the first time in nearly 45 minutes, I took a deep breath and gave her a lengthy explanation about everything it did and how to use it all.

Surprisingly, the second I handed it to her, she held it properly with form similar to the way I held my greatsword.

-It's a bit of a wide stance, but for her to be able to follow what she should've only been able to see for a split second...- With just a few more corrections after that, she honestly held it shockingly well and could even swing it properly. -Maybe leaving it to her isn't the worst idea...-

After taking a few more minutes to make sure she actually understood everything, I finally leaned down and gave her a very serious warning.

"Never show this to anyone unless you know you're strong enough to beat them, alright?"

She gave an excited nod without the slightest hesitation.

"Haah…" -I really hope she understands…-

*distant cheering* Hearing the loud cheers coming from the front gate, I finally realized I was out of time.

"I'm sorry I can't do more for you but…" Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a bag I snatched off the noble from earlier with several silver and gold coins in it. "This should last you for a while."

She wore an amazed look as she stared into the leather bag.

"Ah, I can't leave you in rags if you have that kind of sword, can I..." Thinking she was more likely to get robbed if she looked like a peasant, I used magic to clean her up and give her some new, multipurpose clothes that, most importantly, looked expensive. -This will keep most people from asking any questions, and with all the runes, it’ll act like armor too...- "Do you have a name?" I asked her as I added a few finishing touches, but she just shook her head.

"Give me.. a name…"

-A name?- Although I wanted to give it some serious thought, a name popped into my head immediately. "How about Katherine?"

Her eyes lit up as she heard the name. "Ka..ther..ine.." She slowly sounded it out before a wide smile came to her face. But that was when she pointed at me. "Name?"

It was honestly adorable. "My name is Vasilias Whyte." Her pure nature made me smile, but I was already out of time. "Well, I need to go for now. Please be careful!"

She looked sad for a moment, but her eyes shifted to those of determination after a few seconds. "I will.. grow strong!"

"Haha, I hope so." I patted her on the head with a satisfied smile on my face. "Grow strong for me!"

"Mm!"

Seeing her determination, I felt at least partially more confident that she’d be alright. -Plus, with that talent.. I'm sure she'll be fine…-

But as I stood up to leave, I decided to do one last thing. *pat* Setting my hand on her head, I sent some aura into her body and imprinted a few strengthening runes on her bones.

"This will help you get strong, okay?"

"Hm!" She gave a strong and confident nod that reminded me of Ilios.

-They really are quite similar, huh...-

Finally pulling my hand away, I gave the girl one final wave and farewell before dashing away to meet back up with Ilios. -She was really cute.. especially for a humanoid…- Even as I ran to meet with Ilios, I had some lingering warmth in my heart.

But not long after I left, the girl pulled the rapier close to her chest as if to hug it and mumbled something to herself. "Katherine.. Whyte.."