As Ben crossed the throne room he was observed by the king and a couple assistants who were facing his direction.
"Ah! The Defender of Aregard Archduke King! You know even if you have advanced to the Stage Seven with another one of your miracle pills I have no more noble ranks to offer you!" The King said while laughing loudly as Ben approached.
Ben couldn't help chuckle which allowed some of his nervousness to melt away.
"I am sorry to disappoint Sire but I am still at Stage SIx Level Three." Ben stopped before the throne. He deeply bowed and saluted toward the king and was surprised when the surrounding assistants turned to bow and salute him.
Normally these guys kept to themselves and didn't pay much attention to Ben unless he approached them. They were always respectful but there was a definite change in how they looked at him now.
Before Ben could think about it the king spoke again, "This is a rare surprise then, I hope everything is well? I know you are a busy young man and are not prone to making casual visits to my throne room. Please speak freely and let me know how my court can be of assistance." The king asked when he saw the serious look on Ben's face and was slightly concerned
Ben looked toward the Assistants and returned their salutes to show them respect before he spoke, "This may be presumptuous for me to request but I would like to speak with the king privately. I presently have information for the King's ears only." Ben asked as he bowed yet again to the king.
King Sletten showed some surprise on his young looking face when he heard Ben's appeal but he sent the assistants and guards from the throne room without delay. The king did not fear for his safety with his guards out of sight after hearing about how strong Ben was during the battle even if he had the entire Palace Guard division in his throne room they could never save him if Ben chose to attack him.
When everyone had left Ben opened his virtual map and found someone was still in the small antechamber on the opposite side of the throne room. They were out of sight but it would be possible for them to hear their discussions in the throne room from where they were standing.
Ben scowled and then whispered "Just a moment your majesty"
Ben activated Whirlwind Maneuver and instantly crossed the throne room. He dashed through the archway into the antechamber and found a servant girl who was standing against the wall. Her eyes were closed and she held a tray with a silver wine decanter and a couple fancy silver goblets. It appeared she was standing by out of sight waiting to serve the king wine if he called but something about her made Ben suspicious.
When the king had yelled out for everyone to clear the throne room she would have heard him without any problem but she chose to stay in this hidden area the whole time.
The female servant was an average looking woman wearing a plain dress. She would not stand out in a crowd and was the type of woman who wouldn't draw attention to herself if she were to pass by.
"Can I help you find the exit to the throne room mama?" Ben asked with a hint of aggression in his voice.
Ben's sudden appearance startled the women but she quickly recovered and feigned innocence.
"Oh my! I was working late last night and I am half awake on my feet. How can I be of service to you my lord?"
"Everyone was ordered by the king to clear the throne room so please exit with all due haste." Ben replied.
The servant quickly bowed and left through a door in the antechamber without saying anything, leaving Ben alone with the king.
'Athena do me a favor and change that woman from a gray neutral dot on the map to a red enemy dot. I may be reading into it too much but I want you to alert me whenever she is within one hundred yards of my location at any time or place. If possible let me also know if she decides to leave the Aregard Kingdom.'
*Ding!* [No problem Ben, The female servant's status has been changed to an enemy and her movements are now being tracked. Just to inform you I currently don't have much information on her. Her name is Noemi and she is a commoner of Aregard. She was born and raised in a small town on the Aregard kingdom's east coast. Noemi was hired to work as a servant for the palace after she arrived in Goldcrest four years ago. This is the extent of my current records on her.]
Ben thanked Athena as he walked back toward the King who had stood up from his throne and looked like he was about to cross the throne room to where Ben had run off to.
When he saw Ben walking back he questioned him.
"Is everything okay Archduke King? You took off so fast It was hard to tell where you went until I heard your voice in the adjoining entrance."
"Everything is fine now Sire one of the servants were a little slow to depart so I asked them kindly to exit the throne room."
The king shook his head in understanding and waited for Ben to continue.
"I am not sure on how to properly tell you this so I will just come out and say it. I am sure the Royal Palace is aware that I often depart the Aregard Kingdom for days on end and then return after some time. Everyone must also wonder where I had been keeping those troops who I used to fight the Trareniel invaders. The thing is I have secured lands outside the borders of the eight kingdoms on this continent."
The King squinted his eyes and began to wonder where Ben could be talking about. there were a few scattered islands along the coastlines of this landmass but his trade ships would have reported any new settlements on any of them and this land must be close to the Aregard Kingdom if Ben could travel between there and Goldcrest in only a couple days.
"The place I have secured is inside of the Wayward Woodlands. I have constructed a near impenetrable fortress there and now have sixteen hundred trained troops protecting the lands.""
The king stood up unconsciously.
"By the gods! The Wayward Woodlands! How are your men able to survive there? We have sent exploration squads into that forest and they have always been driven out by hostile profound beasts or have never returned!" The king asked in astonishment.
Ben nodded as he answered. "The Wayward Woodlands is definitely a hostile place where no normal man should ever step foot. I have almost traveled to the center of the forest on my own and the creatures only grow stronger as you travel deeper into the forest. There is one secret though that I had discovered shortly after I arrived after exploring that massive forest"
The king slowly sat back down as he seemed to be hanging out each of Ben's words. He almost couldn't believe it when Ben told him he had nearly traveled to the center of that massive forest and had found his way out despite the dangers. Now Ben was going to tell him a secret about this cursed forest that no one knew about so he sat down quietly without interrupting him.
"That forest is indeed enormous and it stretches out for hundreds of miles in every direction except up near the northern chain of mountains."
Ben opened the System Store and purchased a huge detailed map of the continent for 5 silver coins. He assumed maps were so cheap due to the fact he had an interactive map so he would generally have no need to ever purchase a map.
As he pondered over the cheap map prices, Ben removed a large table from his inventory. He spread out the huge map on the table and the king curiously stepped down from his throne when realized what Ben was showing him. It was a map of the continent but it was much more detailed and showed the exact shape and topography of the entire continent along with each of the kingdom borders.
The kings of these lands whose fathers, grandfathers, and great grandfathers had always sent out parties to explore and make maps of the land but he had never seen a complete map of the entire continent like this. This map would be worth a small fortune and it could even be dangerous if it were in the wrong hands. An enemy could see every part of your kingdom with it. Every river, mountain, hill, valley forest, grassland, and town were exposed to the viewer!
As the king was marveling over how accurately detailed his kingdom was displayed Ben drew his attention to the grasslands hidden north of the Wayward Woodlands.
Ben drew an imaginary circle around the vast wilderness grassland with his finger.
"This is a massive open grassland is hidden in between the northern mountains here and the southern forest here. You can see how the mountains curve south to blend in with the outer perimeter of the forest. This is how the land here has remained undiscovered all this time."
Ben pointed to the small stretch of forest just south of the mountains on the western Aregard borders.
"Look right here see this small stretch of trees? If you do not have a map of the area and enter anywhere south of this small strip you will only travel deeper into the forest and never know about the grasslands. By traveling through this small window of the forest you can reach the grasslands in under a mile of travel through the woods."
Ben then pointed to the general area he had built his fortress on the map and explained how he had already built a road from his fortress up to the edge of the treeline a mile away from the western Aregard borders. He also told the king about the road he had created through the entire Wayward Woodlands and how it was protected by twenty foot high wooden walls.
"I have constructed walls and towers on both ends of these roads and will soon have men guarding access to these roads from any hostile forces. You must be wondering why I am telling you about this when I could have kept it a secret. The reason is I am establishing a new kingdom. I have enough military power to defend these lands now so it is time to let the continent know my plans."
The king let out a long cold breath and turned around to sit back down on his throne.
A new kingdom! For hundreds of years it was only the eight kingdoms now there was going to be a ninth kingdom and the king believed Ben when he said he had the military strength to defend it.
His daughter had said if Ben had an army the size of the Trareniel invading army he could conquer the eight kingdoms and he now had sixteen hundred trained troops!
The way his men were outfitted and with their advanced training, Ben could easily wipe out any armies sent to cause trouble in his new territory.
He gave the king a few minutes to digest everything while he put away the table and rolled the map up.
Ben passed the map to the king with a smile and said, "I know this is shocking news but another reason why I am here telling you this first is that you have always treated me well and I want to continue to help the Aregard Kingdom. I have noticed the Trareniel northern borders have been closed and merchants can no longer import or export goods. Just by seeing the empty rented vendor stalls in the market square I know it is beginning to hurt the Aregard kingdom's economy."
The king let out a hollow laugh and replied. "This was exactly what we were talking about before you came today. We have continued to trade by ship but it is such a slow process we can't bring the goods in or out of the kingdom quick enough. Then there are pirates and storms whom we lose the occasional shipload to on top of it. If we can't continue to export our iron and copper from the northwestern mines of my kingdom will be in trouble soon." The king exclaimed with a look of despair.
These mines made up a large amount of the money brought into the Aregard Kingdom. These very mines also supplied the Aregard Kingdom with the silver and gold ore they used to replenish their ever fluctuating coin currency.
"I have a plan to help you with this problem. If you willing to form an alliance and connect your roads with my kingdom I will still perform my role as the Aregard Defender. I can protect the Aregard kingdom from invaders and bring over my troops to drive out any hostile forces. I also plan to travel to the Ciral Kingdom and ask to connect my southern forest road to their northern roads. If I get them to agree then we can have the merchants and traders use my kingdom's roads to bypass the Trareniel Kingdom!"
The king's mood changed when he heard Ben's plan and he began to laugh as he slapped his hands up and down on the armrests of his throne.
"We could cut right around that Trareniel bastard Knotley and he can't do a thing about it! Knotley wanted to weaken my kingdom because he hasn't given up on trying to take it from me but if we were to work together we could just ignore him. I had been almost ready to send my army over the border to invade him because he was causing so much damage to our treasury but we are unsure on how many troops he has left in his kingdom. If I were to lose my army it would not only leave us defenseless but the kingdom's manpower would be affected for the next twenty years." King Sletten excitedly explained.
Ben nodded along and said, "Exactly! We can ignore him for now, but I will let you know right now, I have not finished with the Trareniel Kingdom. Sometime in the spring or early summer, I plan to take a little trip over to visit this Trareniel king Knotley. Soon after my visit, you will not have any more worries about your southern borders" Ben said as he remembered the battle and what had happened in that small southern Aregard town.
The king stood up and held the rolled up map out with a questioning glance.
"You can keep it! I have other maps like it already. I can not tell you how or where I got it from but it is a 100% accurate map. I am sure you and your daughter will make good use of it for years to come." Ben explained with a smile.
"Thank you it is a fabulous gift. For the first time ever I can actually see what the entire continent looks like. This will be a tremendous help in times of both war and peace." King Sletten replied with a look of gratitude.
The King led Ben out of the throne room and they sat down together in a large conference room. A small army of palace assistants, kingdom officials, and military officers soon joined them. They drew up forms recognizing the establishment of the Avalon Kingdom and had signed an alliance between their kingdoms.
Each kingdom allowed economic, diplomatic and military access to each other's kingdoms. If the king wished to cross Ben's kingdom with a large army or send merchants and diplomats across his roads to other kingdoms he was welcome to do it without any warning and the same conditions applied for Ben.
If it wasn't for Ben and his troops they would have already been conquered by Trareniel and if Ben were to invade Aregard they would have a hard time stopping him. If the royal cultivator failed to stop Ben the Aregard Kingdom would quickly fall to his troops so allowing Ben military access to the kingdom was a given.
During this meeting, Ben proposed an idea. To help sweeten the deal with the Ciral Kingdom Ben asked the king to offer the Ciral Kingdom a discounted price on iron and copper ore. If they could offer them prices cheaper than any of the other eight kingdoms it would make them eager to accept Ben's new Kingdom and connect their roads to his.
Ben knew ore export was the Aregard Kingdom's main export so asking them to sell their ore at slashed prices was asking too much.
He explained he would create a loading zone just across his borders where the Aregard Kingdom could pick up iron and copper ore from Ben for free.
There is so much iron and copper ore being deposited into Ben's Warehouse these days that he can't even use it quick enough. He had thousands of tons of copper just sitting there and the iron amounts were excessive as well.
The Aregard Kingdom could sell their ores at regular rates to the other kingdoms and they could also keep the discounted money they made from selling Ben's ores to the Ciral Kingdom! This way they would not lose out on the money they would have made by selling their own ore to the Ciral Kingdom.
King Sletten tried to refuse Ben's generous offer but Ben insisted claiming it was just as much his gain. If he could have another Kingdom recognize his kingdom it was worth the ore he gave out. Ben had zero invested in the ore that would be sold to Ciral so why would he worry about it? To gain the friendship of two Kingdoms for some ore was much more preferable than losing trained soldiers in wars against those who opposed his right to rule.
Near the end of the day, Ben left the Aregard Palace with documents explaining how Aregard recognized and have allied with the newly established Avalon Kingdom. He also had contracts explaining the low priced ores deal offer to the Ciral Kingdom. If the Ciral Kingdom recognizes the Avalon Kingdom and connected their roads together it would be quite profitable for them.
Ben went to each of his businesses and collected the sales money before he cast Zoom to return to the Keep.
As he looked around the Keep he began to think now that he was an actual king he should think about making something a little more impressive than this small keep, he started out with. He had a Small Palace in Goldcrest where his employees lived while he and Mythia were still living in a small stone keep.
'I guess I can put that on hold. I need to concentrate on how to approach the Ciral Kingdom. It was easier with the Aregard King because we already know one another. I am sure I can't just walk into the Ciral throne room and talk one on one with their king.'
Ben began looking around the keep for Mythia while he thought about the long day he had ahead of him tomorrow.