"So let's start with the 2,000 people to put somewhere. The land I told you about was the ancient territory of wolves. On the other hand, I do not know exactly the exact position of the place since I had been caught by the merchants after killing the boss"
"Wait a bit, you managed to beat all the wolves on your own." The guardless prince asked in disbelief.
"Athis, let him finish, "His mother who was upset to hear him, told him, which made Athis afraid to speak more.
'What a view. The first and the second prince are highly-respected while the third prince does not even have a guard to protect him.' Eden thought as he saw Athis looking toward the ground.
"To answer your question... Prince Athis, let's say I killed them with an army of myself," Eden said to Athis who made him raise his head and look Eden straight in the eye with a beautiful smile.
"To continue, you just have to destroy the whole forest and settle the 2000 people there. At the same time, you will have a huge amount of wood. For your lack of resources, have fields installed after razing the forest to make these people work and have them sell their products to the royal family with a 50% discount. If they do not accept, tell them that it is for the fact of living for free in your territory. If people are still not happy, simply stop taking care of them. We don't need an animal that bites its master, do we?
"If you do this, public opinion will also be in your favor. I guess it's Prince Christian who is the heir so it would be better if it was him who led this project. Sure it will be hard to deal with the problem in the short term, but in the long run, I can assure you that you will have more profits than losses.
"There is also a kind of mine in this place. I didn't go any further than the entrance but you will probably be able to find precious stones, and who knows, probably rare materials to make new equipment."
When Eden had finished speaking, everyone in the room was once again speechless. None of them would have thought that he could have come up with whole planning of things to do so quickly, not even Aether. Even the chancellors who were supposed to be intelligent in these areas would have paled in comparison to Eden. He had even thought about public opinion and the advantage that Christian would gain if he was the one who carried out the project.
"Splendid, absolutely splendid!!" The Empress exclaimed with a smile on her face in anticipation of what would happen next.
« ... For the 1000 new soldiers, even if it will not be enough, here is a small gift" Eden continued by taking out all the equipment he had collected since the reincarnation of his inventory. "Give them the full set if they have potential"
Seeing the pile of equipment, no one says anything. They were already stunned enough like that so they couldn't find the words to comment on what was in front of them.
Even the Empress no longer had the words for this. She suspected that Eden must have some equipment on him to be at level 8, but never so much equipment!
"You want to give us all that?" Asked Aether who was in shock when he saw the low-level equipment in front of him.
"Of course, as long as Her Majesty fulfills her share of our negotiations, everything is yours," Eden replied while putting all the equipment back in his inventory.
"You're full of resources Eden, having so much upon your sleeve when you're only level 8 is an amazing thing. I gladly accept everything you have to offer me, and as I promised, I would also accept your requests, whatever it may be" The Empress said to Eden, smiling as he heard her.
After concluding on the terms of their "contracts", Eden transferred what he had promised to Karaine. He also confirmed to them the location of the forest and the cave so that they could begin the work as quickly as possible. Even if in this new world there were spells to accelerate the construction of buildings and so on, it would still take time to create more than a thousand accommodations. Putting 2000 people together will be difficult, even for the best of the best.
"Now that all our affairs have been settled, let us move on to what you want my dear Eden," The Empress said to Eden as she sat on her throne. However, even after she sat down, she still didn't have an answer.
"Eden?" Aether asked to Eden.
"*Sigh* before I tell you my request, will I be able to know the reason for my coming? I'm sure it wasn't just to see a vampire after 15 years, was it?" Eden asked as he crossed his arms.
« ... indeed, we didn't call you for this at first" Karaine said with a sigh. She was so caught up in everything Eden had to tell her that she forgot to tell him the reason for his coming.
"Mother, let me explain to him," Aether asked her mother, who nodded. "In our empire, we have 3 different statuses or banners I should say. First of all, there is the main banner which is that of the Empire of Chronus, and where all the people living in the city belong.
"Then there is the banner of the princes, that is, the people who have pledged allegiance to one of us are under our responsibility and orders. Finally, there is the banner or rather the status of tourists. As the name suggests, it is all tourists who come and go in the empire. These three banners are used to identify an individual to know if the latter is under this or that banner"
"*Sigh* And I guess I'm going to have to choose between one of the three of you because I'm too precious to be part of the generality right?" Eden summed up from what he had understood to the empress who nodded.
"What happens if I refuse?"
"You will be exiled from the empire and you will no longer be able to enter it. You will also be seen as a thug by the other royalties since you will be considered an exile, which means that you will not be able to hang from any banner until the end of your days," Christian replied instead of the others.
"I see. In this case your majesty, I would like to address your 3 requests" Asked Eden with conviction to the Empress who accepted without any problem.
"My first request is that you, your majesty, support me until I become strong enough to fend for myself. I am not asking you to mobilize the empire for me, but to pressure those who will try to harm my life so that nothing happens to me. I'm a vampire after all so it will be mission impossible for me not to get people's attention.
When I talk about support, I'm also talking about the fact that you are addressing me as a friend and not a poor underling. A relationship is built on a good foundation after all" Eden asked seriously.
"If it's only that, I accept without a problem" Karaine replied with a smile.
"My second request is to receive 20% of what you will harvest from the mine, only if it's interesting of course," Eden asked Karaine who accepted again without hesitation.
"Finally for my third request, I would like not to be under one of the princes all my life, that is to say, that even if I go to one of the three, I would still like to be free, so leave and come without any repercussions"
Hearing the first two requests, Karaine, Christian and Aether thought that everything was fine. The requests that Eden had made were very simple to carry out and did not ask them much. However, his last request was another problem. What he was asking for was very harsh in itself because pledging allegiance to someone meant to give one's life for the person, so by asking for something like that, it came down to not pledging at all.
"You realize that what you are asking is not to pledge allegiance but simply to be under the banner of someone and thus to receive the benefits without them receiving anything in return," The Empress asked Eden who confirmed what she had said.
"*Sigh* so be it. Now the question is who are you going to 'swear allegiance' to?" Eden had solved many of their worries, even some that were not mentioned, so accepting this was the least they could do. And then as he said, a relationship is built on a good foundation, and she was sure that Eden will bring them many benefits later on.
Hearing the Empress's answer, Eden had a weight that was removed from him. He had been playing with his life since the beginning of the negotiations. He had certainly said that the Eden that was present was only an illusion, but in reality, this Eden was none other than the true one. He was lying to them from the beginning, and this lie had worked even better than he might have thought.
After a few seconds of intensive reflection, Eden finally concluded the person with whom he will decide to leave for the next few days, and probably even the coming months.
"So my choice will be this, I would like to pledge allegiance to Prince Athis," Eden said proudly.
After Eden finished saying these words, the whole room was once again in shock. Christian could have brought him power and popularity since he was the heir to the throne. He could even have given him a lot of resources knowing that he was the one who owned the most after his mother.
Aether could also have guaranteed him these things. Certainly in smaller quantities, but still with much, much more advantage than if he left with Athis. There was also the fact that they were friends who had to play in his favor, so he did not understand his choice.
Even Karaine didn't understand it. Athis had no support from the nobles, let alone from the people. He was almost unknown, so much that he could not be seen as a prince at all. The only times he made appearances were at royal banquets or the few festivals during the year. He didn't even have a servant in his mansion, so that was one more reason not to go to him.
And yet, here they were still proven otherwise. No one thought that Athis would ever have someone who would put up with him, not even him.
However, Eden simply chooses him by elimination. He didn't want to go to Christian because he seemed far too haughty and disrespectful. Aether was already his friend so if he wanted to see him, he could always come to Athis house to have a talk or to do something else.
As for Athis, he wanted to find out why he had no support and why he was only level 5. However, the main reason for his choice was so that he could grow with him. Not growing physically but rather with experience. If he were at the same level as him, it would mean that he could evolve with him and go on an adventure with him as well.
In addition, knowing that nothing held him back here, he can always accompany him whenever and wherever he wants.
"Mr. Eden, are you sure you want to come with me? I have absolutely nothing to offer you, so please think carefully, I beg you," Athis said to Eden while looking to the ground. He did not want to drown in false hopes. He had already drowned far too many times so he couldn't stand it anymore. On top of that, even his brothers and mother confirmed it so he had no reason to accept it.
"Do I sound like I'm joking Prince Athis?"