Victoria walked around Arnold's desk. The mansion's cleaning took a while but they were able to finish it before it was needed for Arnold to return to the city.
Victoria noticed that the room was pungent with the smell of body odor. She remembered that the two of them had done it in this very office the first time they got here. The thought left her mind until now.
"Haa…" she went towards the window behind the desk and opened it up.
A breath of fresh air flowed in, it was akin to smelling the field of flowers one might smell when spring blessed the lands…
Or that was what she wanted it to be.
The odors of corpses, fecal matter and piss entered her nostrils. She scrunched up her face before closing the window. Victoria took out the perfume bottle in her pocket and began spraying it around.
It wasn't good to leave the dwindling smell of cardinal desire drift in the air. They will have guests soon.
The guests were the lords of the surrounding regions—or what was left of the villages.
This meant that she had to look at Henry Fralk's face again.
She despised that man a lot. He looked at her body as if it was an outlet for his accumulated lust. The way his eyes licked her all over the first time they met angered her but she couldn't do anything over the matter.
She wanted to beat his skull in so badly but had to stop herself multiple times.
"So you are the personal maid of Arnold von Berkley." A voice came from the direction of the door.
It was the person who was standing in the living room where she met Arnold.
"Who are you?" Victoria asked after putting away the perfume bottle.
"Does it matter who I am? My only task is to help this city grow, not make friends."
Victoria narrowed her eyes, "I order you to state your name, origin and occupation." She said so as she sat on Arnold's chair.
"So you are the second in command when he is away… Victoria Lurgun. Forgive me for my rude words." The woman bowed gracefully, "I am Lunaria Lupusil Azeli. I am a subordinate of Brynhildr Selia Bloodforth."
A frown formed on Victoria's face.
"…What?"
Lunaria smiled helplessly, "It seems our lord didn't inform you of his alliance with our queen."
"Alliance? When… No, how did he manage to do that?"
"How? That is a rather simple answer: we were in need of a benefactor for our nation. Of course, this wasn't revealed to the other nations."
"It would've motivated them to start a war, right?"
"Exactly, miss Victoria. They would think we're weak since we don't have money to take care of our armies and feed our people," Lunaria closed her eyes which was probably an indication that she was smiling mockingly even though her expression didn't change much, "But that would be a fool's thought to think we need humans to fight for us. Yes, we are currently training soldiers but that is to protect the citizens. The monster army is there to serve only our queen and to protect our walls."
"So you're confident that you will be able to repel any nation in war?"
"Indeed."
'Such arrogance.'
"What about the Theocracy? The Republican province of Zrek, the Demihuman Kingdom and the Council of Dragon Lords? Would you be able to take them on as well?"
"Indeed."
Victoria didn't even doubt it since Lunaria was so confident.
"But why would you ally yourself to a small city like ours when your own nation is so mighty?"
Lunaria took out a document from the bag she was carrying.
"This is the current revenue we get monthly. If compared to smaller nations then even our own then it's a very miniscule amount."
Victoria looked through it briefly, "Not even enough money to fix the damage from the last war? And you are unable to feed your citizens every day?"
"Yes. We can't even make a functioning society where people have jobs and get wages. The orphans are the biggest worry. I've lost count over how many children have been abandoned by their parents because it was the easy way out. Since the children can't fend for themselves, we have to raise them. If they're talented enough then they can become knights or mages enlisted in the army. But that is only the last option."
"So everything can be solved as long as you have money?"
Lunaria nodded.
"How do you think we'll be able to help? We ourselves are penniless. I'm even using my savings I've had since I became a maid just to feed my master."
Although they got a hefty amount of money from that incident related to James Caervil, Victoria told Arnold to use the money for himself once he gets to the capital. She had taken care of him financially up until now.
He needed the money for his studies, clothes, and equipment.
"That's a little sad to hear but we are also in dire straits. Can't we relate, miss Victoria?"
"I'm not comparing myself to a monster."
"Fair enough. But can you understand now why we allied ourselves?"
"No. Tell me what we have that can benefit you."
Lunaria looked unsure whether she should tell Victoria.
'What? Is Al hiding something from me? Why?'
It was a little hypocritical of her to be mad but this concerned the city not their personal problems. Even Victoria was feeling sympathy for these people.
"I wouldn't want to force my authority on you, Lunaria."
Lunaria sighed, "Your city has a mineral that will be able to provide our nation enough funds to last hundreds of years of war or famine. Well, that is what my superior, Vetis told me. It's a little excessive to say hundreds of years. But maybe he meant that the city has enough that could fund us for very long."
"What mineral do you speak of?"
Victoria knew everything about the region's most profitable minerals. This included gold, magic crystals and other minerals or metals like platinum. But those weren't in large supply and the price for each kilogram was lesser than it was a few years back.
Now that the world has entered a new era, even gold lost its former value as the most profitable mineral. Although it was still used as the second most valuable currency before white gold. The other problem was shipping the minerals to other nations or regions. This city had no horses or any forms of transportation to begin with.
"Have you heard of blood crystals?"
"…What?"
"It's a kind of magic crystal. We have conducted experiments on the small sample that we had and found a lot of surprising facts. The crystals have the fossilized blood of ancient beings. This—in turn—grants the crystals extraordinary properties. It also has a few abilities and many which are still left undiscovered."
"That sounds ridiculous. Why would such a convenient mineral exist on our land?"
"You may ask your master when he comes back. He was the one who knew about them since the beginning."
"…." Victoria rummaged in Arnold's desk and pulled out the recent financial papers. She looked at all the city's expenses over the course of the two months they had been here.
They were heavy in debt with several merchants who loaned them money without question. It was shady but they had no choice if they wanted their people to eat.
The food that they traded from other regions would be sold at the cheapest price to avoid upsetting the citizens. Of course, this would make others think Arnold was a gullible idiot who did anything anyone asked so long as enough pressure is put on him.
But he would increase those prices only if the city recovers.
'This all adds up to 1,72 million gold. How will we repay all this money back…'
The interest monthly varied from 1,2 to 2,4%. They made loans from various merchants and banks so they had a lot to repay.
"How valuable is this mineral you speak of?"
"Can you be a little specific with your question?"
"Like a kilogram. How much would that sell for?"
"…" Lunaria whispered under her breath as she closed her eyes in thought. She spoke after a minute of silence filled the room, "Two large castles' worth if the crystal is 99,6% pure. That's about 3 million gold at least. Take into account that finding any magic crystals above 60% is rare."
Victoria's eyes widened and her mouth twitched.
'Why didn't Al tell me about this… Was it to make sure that it was safe to reveal these crystals to the world first? Is he using the Undead Queen as protection?'
If that was the case then Victoria couldn't help but applaud him for his actions. He moved under the radar and struck an alliance with an absolute monster. They were on the empire's land but that didn't mean that Whitage city belonged to the empire.
Jurnick and his nobles couldn't take this land away using their authority as people of the empire. If they decided to take it forcibly then wars would result from that. Other nations would jump at the chance to help Arnold. Of course, this was because they would want a part in selling these crystals to the world.
This meant that no consequences could result from allying with the monarch of the Undead Nation unless the empire made the first move. Whitage city would always seem like the victim since they only established an alliance to protect their land and people. It was a brilliant strategy to avoid bring eaten up by powerful fief lords and kingdoms.
'He never fails to amaze me.' Victoria wanted to smile but managed to keep her face straight.
Arnold had always been an extraordinary boy ever since he was young. He could win interschool battles without much effort, get into the top ten academic performers in the empire, rank first in swordsmanship training and many more.
He was indeed a prodigy.
"And how large are the deposits of crystals we have… outside this city?"
"I can't be certain. Your master refuses to tell me until I am given the order to have my people mine the crystals."
"I see…"
"That aside, what must I do for now?"
"Oh… I forgot that he left me with instructions." Victoria thought for a second.
There were many things that had to be done. One of those things was to cultivate the land outside the city. But the problem was that they lacked manpower to do so.
Victoria remembered those people who came to the city to labor. They were currently repairing the buildings or helping around the city until their sentences were done. Of course, shelter and food is given to them for the time being.
But who knew how long it would take to restore the city itself with such minimal amount of workers. The original inhabitants aren't even helping at all. Most just watch how the laborers from the empire work.
"Let's have all the laborers assemble in the city plaza."
"What about the other citizens?"
"Tell them that we will pay them each two silver coins a week if they work in the city. Those who clean the sewers and do construction will be paid a silver more. Shifts start from 9 until 4. No overtime is accepted at this time."
Lunaria wrote everything down as Victoria spoke.
"Those with horses and weapons will go out to hunt animals which will be distributed to our knights who will be the butchers for the time being. This is only a rough explanation. I'll write down everything in paper once the lords of the surrounding villages arrive."
"Understood. I will go inform the citizens immediately."
"Alright."
When Lunaria was about to open the door to get started with her work, it opened and beyond it was someone they didn't expect to be here.
Arnold was looking at them with bloodshot eyes. A pale Lauran was behind him.
**
"Al? What are you doing here? I thought you went to the capital?" Victoria approached him. He didn't even pay her any mind as he passed by her.
"Leave us, Lauran and Victoria."
"Huh?"
"Go!"
Arnold shouted which made Victoria and Lauran flinch.
The two of them obediently nodded and left the office. Arnold shut the door and locked it. He leaned against the door as cold sweat dripped down his cheek.
"What's the matter?" Lunaria poured him a glass of water and gave it to him. He gulped it down like he hadn't drank any water for days.
"Haa… Haa…" He wiped his mouth as he looked at Lunaria, "You… You said that I can request anything from your nation so long as I support you financially, right?"
"I don't recall saying it so directly but yes. We will help you in any way you wish."
"I see…" Arnold smiled in satisfaction.
Lunaria was getting a bad feeling about how relieved he looked.
"Is there something I—no, that the nation can do for you?"
Arnold took something out of his magic bag and threw it on his desk. It was the size of an adult man's head.
It was the same crystal Lunaria had seen Vetis show her but this one was much larger and shined even brighter than the finest plate of adamantite or dragonsteel armor.
"I want you to invade one of the empire's cities."
"…Huh?"