City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

I rode through the nearly empty streets of the city.

Yesterday, they were filled with people, tourists. Now, there is barely any aside from the police.

The entire city is under lockdown, with police and army personnel patrolling the streets.

In three days, the undead are going to descend on the city, and we will have to defend against them. We have made all the preparations we could, but more time would have helped.

Soon, I reached the city hall. It’s fast when I ride, even faster with this boy.

I dismounted and walked inside. 

“He will arrive in the city by nine,” informed Lola. “Caena is making the preparations,” I replied.

We are talking about Adran.

He and his men will travel through a merchant state in the region. I don’t know where he is coming from; he likely came from one of the secret missions for the merchants.

Those bastards are always up to something secret. Most of the time, it remains hidden, but sometimes, the news leaks, and the bastards always deny it.

He could have directly gone to the merchant state through Belnin, but he is going through the region.

I could only think of one reason for it. To send the message to the undead.

He plans to stay for a few hours, but I want to make it a whole night.

I want to spar with him and would even pay him for that.

I would have liked to make the direct offer, but that might be a breach of contract, that the merchant state signed with the undead, which could be considered personal support.

It’s a kind of grey area.

Since he is not an employee of the merchant state, just a citizen, it’s why these bastards use mercenaries for secret missions.

As there is always plausible deniability when things come out.

Once he arrives, I will offer him full hospitality and in the morning ask for the spar if he demands payment in exchange. I will give it to him.

I have seen the benefits of the spar I had with Kalos.

I want to do it again and also make my men spar with him. It will give them a valuable experience that will aid them against Lv. 40, they will face when the horde attacks.

I checked on a few more things before looking at files.

Today is a jam-packed day with meetings and visits to several places to check on the preparations.

It might not seem like it, but we have made the preparations. We could have made more, but that would have alerted the enemies of our plan, and we didn’t want that.

The plan would cause damage and loss of properties, but it will be worth it as long as we survive the undead.

‘Lord Silver, he is here,’ informed Jill.

Click!

The door opened, and a man in his late thirties walked in. He walked in casually, with the air of someone fearless; the scar on his face reinforced that further.

He is wearing training clothes, and from his appearance, it seems he has just come from training.

His clothes and expression may seem disrespectful, but they are not; it’s who he is, and it didn’t matter to me.

The man already has the thing that matters to me most, loyalty.

“My lord,” he greeted. “Take a seat, Captain Vandal,” I said. He is Resus Vandal, captain of Vandal Mercenaries.

He is one of two people I wanted to give the Belt of Tethered Fang to.

He has better skills than the other person; the second most enviable skills after Orok, but the other person has something he didn’t, and we needed that thing for the battle.

“I didn’t expect you would call me so suddenly. I had already told you, I am not abandoning my home,” he said as he sat down.

“I know, Captain. I do not doubt your loyalty to the city,” I replied, and the man’s expression turned curious. “I called you to give you this,” I added and turned to Lola.

A moment later, a large wooden box appeared in her hand, and she placed it in front of him.

Seeing it, his eyes lit up.

“Thank you, my lord. I knew you could get me, that triple-enchanted sword I had wanted.” He said. He had asked for weapons a few weeks ago.

The triple-enchanted sword was crafted from a specific material. It’s costly.

Click!

I didn’t say anything. Seeing that, the man turned to the box and opened it. Immediately, his eyes widened.

“Fuck me!” he cursed.

“I hope you liked the weapon, Captain?” I asked the man, who is still staring at the box.

It took a few seconds before he moved his hand and took out a beautiful, stone green sword with a wooden handle from the box.

I cannot give him the artifact I wanted. So, I got him the second-best thing.

The half-artifact. It’s much better than the triple-enchanted sword he wanted.

“I love it. I had dreamed about this thing,” he replied, touching the sword gently like a lover.

“Then I hope you will get used to it quickly. We barely have three days,” I said, and the man finally turned toward me and grinned.

“I will be more than ready by then, my lord,” he replied and got up.

He left immediately, and I didn’t stop him. The more he used it, the better it would get.

It had cost me a massive amount of money to get that sword. Half-artifacts are very expensive, but given the advantage they provide, they are worth every penny.

Another one is coming by evening; she is returning with it to the city from her trip.

I didn’t think she would return, and I wouldn’t have faulted her, but she is returning and bringing another half-artifact. It’s also the most expensive type.

A few minutes later. I attended a meeting and then went to the army headquarters.

I had spent the whole afternoon there before going to the cavalry ground, where my magicians attacked me while I fought with them on horseback.

That is where the monster showed its true abilities. In the training, the energy construct was no threat to it, but that’s not the case when two High-Mages, rogue and warrior, attack.

They were powerful enough to kill it, and the monster showed everything it had. I even had to use everything to defend against them.

Soon, I was back in my office.

“They have reached Wildhelm,” informed Lola. Another person had come to the region today, and he had not come alone.

Marquess Gravevale had come, and he had brought the army of a hundred thousand. That is on top of seventy-five thousand, which he had already sent to the region in the past three weeks.

Another twenty-five thousand will be coming in the month, with fifty thousand more coming in three months after that.

The Marquess Grimavale has an army of two hundred thousand men. Most of which he was able to bring, but some will still be engaged in different fronts and will take time to come.

Countess Velaniel and Baron Haldraven, who are allied with him, have armies of thirty thousand and twenty-five thousand men, respectively.

Lessening the load on him to protect them.

Not to mention, he is a Lv. 40+ powerhouse and has a Lv. 40 in his service.

His forces may seem huge, and they are, but he will need more in this region. He will be the new guardian of the Dustorn Fortress.

Dealing with Tabes’s forces will be his responsibility.

“There are challenges in front of them; they won’t be looking at us for a short while,” she said. To that, I shook my head. “Not necessarily. If there is an opportunity, they will take it,” I replied.

Marquess Grimvale is an ambitious man; he aspires to control the entire region. He had implied that much in his meeting with Robin.

Though Lola is also correct, it will not be smooth sailing for him. Especially in the first few months, the wasteland presents its own challenges.

The first challenge he will face is Tabes. They do not have as many forces as before, but they will want to test him.

He will also need to worry about the population. Over 70% of the city’s population is leaving with Marques Gats to his new territory.

Means he will have to attract new people. He had citizens, but it is unknown how many will come here.

There is also the economy; the three cities had opened the mines, but he will have to open more and create other sources of revenue.

He has money, but it will eventually run out. He will have to earn enough here to support the army, the city, and the fortress he will control.

Last but not least, he will have to deal with the undead. If I fall, the undead will move toward him.

They will first move to Deerpond; they have a bigger army than mine, but it wouldn’t matter much in front of the horde that is coming.

It will swallow them.

Though I heard he had made a deal with Marquess Grimvale. I didn’t know the details, but I could guess a few of them.

He will be staying the night in Wildhelm with its new lord, Baron Haldraven, before going to Dustorn fortress tomorrow. The day after that, he will formally take the reins of it.

“It’s such a regret that negotiations had failed,” said Lola, and sighed.

“We tried,” I replied.

I had made a genuine effort, but we couldn’t make the deal. The man wanted a lot more than we were willing to offer, and wasn’t willing to provide the level of help we wanted.

Soon, I finished the work, but didn’t get up. Instead, I begin to practice the aura method.

The two, I hadn’t understood yet—the strengthening and the defensive one. There seemed to be less and less hope that I would be able to understand them before the undead came.

I pushed those thoughts away. I have already understood two methods in less than two months, which is excellent.

I’m being greedy, but I will continue trying until the undead appear at the gates of my city.

The fractals appeared one after another, but nothing appeared. Seeing that, I used the metal method and flying leaf together.

Both fractals formed simultaneously.

Though they are forming at a slower speed than usual, these fractals may be small, but they are complex. I need to be meticulous when forming them.

The speed may seem slow, but it is faster than it was a few days ago.

Soon, over half an hour passed by, and I opened my eyes. “Chief Robin’s wife had left the city.” Informed Lola immediately.

“Children?” I asked. “They are in the city,” she replied, and I sighed.

I didn’t meddle in the personal affairs of my employees, but I do read the report about their personal business when my spy chief puts it in front of me.

Robin’s relationship with his wife isn’t good. It is an open secret in the city, as he often sleeps in his office.

Now, his wife had left the city without the children.

“Should I inform him?” she asked, and I shook my head. Since she left, he would have already been informed.

Soon, it was eight, and I walked out of the city hall. I have a birthday to attend, and then I will meet Adran.

I hope I succeed. It will make us better prepared against the undead.

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