"Shion, I need a favor." After holding her silently for a while I finally spoke, "Could you teach me how to read and write?"
Shion looked up curiously, "You can't read or write?" As though something popped into her head she asked, "Do you know what your own name looks like?"
In this worlds language? No. I shake my head to her great shock as she stood up nigh instantly shouting passionately, "I will teach you!"
With Hardvar out helping Trigo to settle the survey as well as begin laying down the groundwork for the future intelligence network and Alias recruiting staff for the estate as well as helping Nefamiti to secure funds out of the previous lords coffers for the garrison a week passed in the blink of an eye.
Numbers came easily as they were fairly similar to the numerals back on earth. But reading was much different, learning the noises of the different letters was a massive challenge as things sounded so strange when singled out, somehow I could understand normal language due to simple instinct of this body, but reading and writing is way different.
Nonetheless, I am learning, I have mastered the first sixteen letters! Out of twenty seven. I can't quite write properly just yet but I can write a normal letter with minimal errors.
"Boss, there is a woman looking for you, she is saying something about a 'Voice-chan?'" Hardvar's voice suddenly interrupted my line of thoughts as my head flicked up.
Voice-chan? How does she know about that? "Ensure that she is not capable of escaping but do not be hostile, I will be there immediately."
"What's wrong? Who is this Voice-chan?" Shion asked nervously, I need to get a grip I am making people nervous.
"A long time ago when I nearly died, I had a conversation with a voice that had no body and it told me that death was not my end yet, I thought I was hallucinating." I replied seriously.
Heading out without another word in the lobby of the mansion is a single young woman, "Ah! It's you!" I shouted.
She's the one who grabbed my hand when I first woke up here!
"Lord Agashi Durlivan, the one called Veru, or how you call her, Voice-chan, sent me back then, saying that her champion was going to die if I did not help." She said bowing at ninety degrees.
"And who are you?" Shion asked coldly. Wow. What got to her?
"I am Seramia, the only believer of Veru, after the religious purge your father instigated only very few religions can thrive inside Dra's lands though I am only recently turned into a believer, I am the first priestess of the Veru Religion." Seramia replied evenly never breaking eye contact with me.
"Sit, and explain to me what Veru is and what you mean by champion?" I brought them to a room deeper in the mansion laying back on a couch.
"Veru is a minor deity of the battlefield, born from death's own hand to manage the souls of warriors, however death created many deities who all fought for power through having their believers sacrafice and cause death, plunging the world into a state of constant war." Seramia said calmly, "The first deities born of death used warriors who had died or been on the brink and brought them back in order to spread the faith, through the little power she had from the one you killed she managed to connect to me to help you."
"I see, so, the more I kill the stronger she becomes?" I replied lightly, If that is the case then she put me into this body on purpose and sent me on killing as her instrument of amassing power.
"No, Veru is special, she has been around since the first peoples walked the lands, she was born along with the first wave of death's deities, but she never involved herself in the affairs of the living nor dead, simply living quietly and watching over the world, but she said, 'A very interesting man appeared, and I thought I'd be a waste so I saved him on a whim, I don't need him to do anything, I just thought it'd be fun to watch.' In other words, she had no interest in acruing power from you," Seramia took a breath, "However, it is a fact that you are her champion as the one who she in essence revived, the last of the ancient champions born to the last of the ancient deities of death, all the others having long since wiped themselves out or gone into hiding."
"I see, so that Voice-chan was really just bored. What a deity." I muttered facepalming, "And what do I get for being a so called champion?"
"You being the champion of Veru can recieve her blessing and give a part of it to others, in this case, Veru's blessing is a simple power up that get's stronger the stronger she becomes." Seramia said raising her hand a wisp of wind flowing in her palm, "I too have been blessed as the first priestess, I have been given the ability to calm the souls of those in pain."
"I see, well, Seramia, I will believe you." I replied casually putting my hand out.
"Agashi! You can't! You don't even know her! What if she is simply swindling you? Or an enemy spy of some cult come to try and take advantage of you?" Shion interjected, That is impossible. No one in this world besides you know of the '-chan' ad on, and what she said that Voice-chan said sounds very much like her.
"Even so, she has given me too much information that she couldn't possibly know, to doubt, Seramia, you may have a room here in the estate and practice your religion within Durlivan, as for the building of a place of worship, come to me when you have aquired over a hundred faithful." I said lightly, "Be sure to pester Veru for me, she owes me for sending me into a battlefield."
"Thank you, Champion Agashi." Seramia replied shaking hands and bowing once more before leaving.
"How can you just believe her?" Shion sulked at my side.
"I nearly died before, in that time I spoke with a voice and was sent back, later on, I almost died again and heard the same voice sending me back once again, this Veru, Voice-chan, is my savior and it is quite impossible for anyone to know of my nickname for her unless she told them." I replied evenly, "It'll be fine."
"I hope so." Shion replied.
Another week blinked by and Hardvar and Trigo returned to the estate with a thick book of names detailing height, age, number of people and families as well as orphans.
"So, your telling me Durlivan has fifteen thousand people, of which there are nearly five thousand families? All inside this near deserted city?" I said incredulously, it's impossible. So many people are in here and yet I can't even spot one!
"Yes lord, we were surprised as well, with how badly constructed the city is it became near impossible to find people, however it seems that they have their own network of paths through the city unseen to visitors where they congrgate and do business." Trigo said slowly as though still reeling from the shock of it, "There are stores on the main roads of the city but they hardly do business at all, only the underworld makes money here, but that was aboslished by you as well, so there is no flow of money in Durlivan thus the people trade instead of buy and sell."
Christ. The situation is much worse than I thought previously. So much worse.
"How are the prisoners doing on the fields?" I asked hopefully, those hundred and fifty captured men are working on the fields outside Durlivan in the plains, laying the groundwork for farms.
"They have been working hard but raids are constant, Nefamiti has been taking care of it wiping out bandit dens all around the mountains and forests but it is nigh impossible to fully root them out." Alias replied sadly, "I don't understand how they can continue to operate despite not being allowed into the city, they gain nothing from their raids as well!"
Oh dear. It would seem that the crime guilds from outside Carrien Empire are beginning to move, at this rate the bandit raids will only become worse and worse until farming becomes impossible and casualties begin to appear along with trained soldiers disguised as bandits.
"Call Nefamiti over, I have a plan for the bandit infestation." I said then looking over at Hardvar, "Gather as much information about the current market as you can, things like what is being traded highly and what people need most right now."
"Trigo, I do not want to hold you here for much longer, Refulnas has been without it's lord for long enough now, but there is one last thing I'd like for you to do...."
Time flew and Nefamiti soon arrived, explaining my plan to him he nodded heading out with Trigo to spread the word.
"Are you sure that will work?" Shion said suspiciously, "Your not making some far fetched gamble again are you?"
"I don't gamble, I make plans and execute them." I replied puffing out my chest only to have it hit viciously by Shion's back hand.
Three days later.