I look at my father and say.
"When will she arrive?"
"She should arrive tomorrow afternoon just before lunch."
"That fast?"
"Her home is not too far away from our territory. Two-day carriage ride is enough to take her here."
"I see. Do you know the reason why she wants to go here?"
"She did not say anything. Her letter only says something about her wanting to see the wider world and start with our territory. However, I have a feeling she wants to create a partnership between her and us."
"Oh?"
"She is a smart girl, you know? At the age of fifteen, she managed to create a booming business."
"What kind of business?"
"Glass business. She takes an order from Nobles and creates a beautiful glass sculpture for them. Not only that, a lot of guilds ask her to make a mass-produced container."
"Why is she particularly popular? There are a few glass making companies in the east, right?"
"Yes. However, she put her price at a lower scale and not only that, but her glass was also stronger than the others."
"I see. Lower profit but bigger customer, huh?"
"That's right. She understands that. It is true that she did not get as much profit as the people on the east coast for every order but she got a lot of customers from it."
A lot of nobles in this world did not think about long-term profit. They lower their goods' prices and get many more customers to increase their long-term profit. This can be done when you do not have a competition, but once you have a competition, this scheme will crumble like a house of cards.
"Hmm, why does she want to come here?"
"I think she wants to ask us if we need her service in making a glass container for our potion."
That is a great idea. At the moment, we have a good amount of vials in our inventory after ordering them from the eastern glass company, but I know it was not enough with the increasing demand for our service.
For two reasons, many commoners come from even the north to our territory in search of healing. The first reason is the price. The Pharmacy Guild in the north is the one monopoly of all healing potions and other medicine. They are the ones controlling the price as well. The same with the healer. Those two demand a lot of money.
The second reason is our service. Pharmacy Guild and Healer are picky with their customers. A poor dirt commoner did not have any hope of getting inside their building. The commoners will be whipped if they step inside the building with their rags.
"Hmmm, depending on her price, I think we can buy a lot of glass vials from her."
"I hear her price is quite low, so low in fact that the people in the eastern part of the kingdom cannot compete against her."
"She gets even more interesting."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Catharina von Xenotra - Heiress of Baron Xenotra|
I look at the clean street and a lot of people walking along the street. This city is called Shadowfall because of its history. This city was built thousands of years ago as a frontier city to defend against the monster wave. The legend says that this city is the last line of defense against a horde of monsters that cover the sky to cast shadows on the ground.
In the White Lily, this city is a vital component in the third arc of the game. The player is given choices when they manage to push the Cunningham family to their ancestral home. They can either destroy the city or keep the damage as little as possible and keep the city.
If the player destroys the city, the third arc will be harder than when they decide to keep the damage as little as possible and keep the city. It is easier to destroy the city in the first arc, but it is more beneficial to keep the city. A lot of newbies get trapped in the third arc because they destroy Shadowfall.
Why did the Cunningham family choose a villainous name for their city? Shadowfall, Blackmore, and Weepingmoor.
I look around the city and come to the conclusion that whoever names this city is an edgy bitch. I shake my head when we arrive in front of a massive mansion where I can see four people standing in front of the mansion.
When I get out of my carriage, I can see two people frowning at me. Alexander Cunningham and Gwyndoling Cunningham, the father and son duo. The Villain Duo and two of the most dangerous men in the entire kingdom.
Alexander Gerrion Cunningham is a great warrior known for his swordsmanship. He has a talent [Sword's Saint], a high-ranking physical-oriented talent. It let him quickly learn how to use a sword and keep improving his sword skill infinitely.
This talent is one of the best talents to have in the late game. Unfortunately, I cannot copy his talent because I already choose the magic-oriented talent I can copy. That is one of the weaknesses of [Copycat] talent. It can only copy the chosen orientation, and I chose magic because it was more versatile, and I didn't want to go to the frontline.
"It is nice to meet you, Lord Cunningham, Lady Cunningham and Heir Cunninham. My name is Catharina von Xenotra and I will be in your care from now on."
I bow a little and see Lady Cunningham smile at me while Alexander and Gwyndolin still have the same frown. As expected of the villain. Even when he did not talk, his aura scared the shit out of me.
I hold a squeak from getting out of my mouth when I see Gwyn raise one of his eyebrows. Can he hear my mind? I don't know if his talent can do that!
"Welcome to Shadowfall, young Catharina. Please get inside."
"Thank you, my lord."
I follow Lord Alexander and leave my bodyguard behind. I'm afraid of getting killed by the main villain, but at the same time, I know that they will not attack me as long as I already announce my arrival in this place. They cannot risk getting into a war with the northern lords.
They are ruthless people, but they are not stupid enough to do so. They need to unify all the southern nobles before they declare war against the northern nobles.
Anyway, the reason why I came here is that I need to copy Gwyndolin's talent. After paying the church, I know that he has [Druid] and [Astrologian] talents. While I don't know what [Astrologian] does because it was a class that did not appear in the game, I know what [Druid] can do.
It was the seventh-strongest talent in White Lily.
It was a combination of Tank, Support, and DPS talents. The ability to control nature is something very terrifying. The incoming war gets harder before it even starts.
Not only that, but I also did not know what this [Astrologian] did and what kind of power it possessed. From the look of it, it was a talent related to stars. I take a deep breath and activate my talents.
An invisible string comes from my body, and it sneaks toward Gwyndolin. When it touches his body, I can feel a rush of knowledge get inside my head. However, something is going wrong before I can feel the connection between my talent and Gwyndolin's.
[ERROR]
[BLESSING OUTSIDE AKASHA RECORD]
[ABORT]
I can hear a mechanical voice coming from inside my head as a splitting headache attacks my head.
"Young Catharina? Are you alright?"
I look at Lord Alexander and give him a weak smile.
"I-I'm fine, m-my lord. I-I think I'm too tired from the journey."
"I see. Then you can take the guest room and take a quick nap. Lunch will be ready in an hour."
"T-Thank you."
What was that? What is that voice? What is happening?! Why can't I copy his talent?! What is going on?!