Lost in their talk, Nolan and Harley didn't even notice that they arrived before Kelton's chamber.
Creak!
Nolan opened the door, and with Harley, they entered the chamber.
Kelton, who was resting on the bed, immediately raised. "Boss?" He was surprised to see Nolan.
There was a table before the bed in the middle of the room. Nolan sat on one of the chairs around the table.
"Kelton, come sit here." Nolan pointed to the chair next to him.
Kelton stood from the bed and sat next to Nolan.
"Boss...I want to be free." Kelton said. He was trembling a little as he didn't know what to expect.
"But...Aren't you already free?"
This question shocked Kelton. "I am?"
"You are free," Nolan said. "I didn't pay you for building the restaurant because I freed you and took it as you repaying me for freeing you."
"Thank you, Boss!" Kelton stood and bowed.
"No need. Sit down. I have a business to discuss." As Nolan said this, Kelton immediately sat next to him.
Out of his sleeve, Nolan took out the village construction drawing.
"Is this possible?" Nolan asked.
Kelton took his time to look at the drawing, and after a few minutes, he replied:
"It's possible. But this is a village we are talking about, so it would take a lot of time."
"How long?" Nolan asked. This was the most important thing because he only had a little less than a month.
"With the people, we have tight now, it would take a year," Kelton replied.
"What if we have seventy men?" Nolan's heart was beating fast.
"At most two months."
"You would finish it in a month," Nolan said.
"Boss, that's a little..."
"How much would it cost to build it if we already have the manpower wood and stones?" Nolan asked, not even letting Kelton finish his sentence.
"Since we already have almost everything, it would take about two hundred silver taels."
"Ughh... That's a bit too much." Nolan muttered. "Harley." He turned to Harley who sat opposite him.
"Yes?"
"How much has the restaurant made till now?" Nolan asked.
"Boss, the restaurant was opened just a day ago. So it made only about thirty taels of silver."
Nolan smiled. The restaurant brought him more money than he thought. With about fifteen taels of silver a day, he would have two hundred tael of silver in no time. "Good. As we agreed. We would split the money fifty-fifty."
Harley ad fifteen taels of silver on him, so he took out a little bag out of the internal pocked of his clothes. He passed the bag to Nolan. "Here are exactly fifteen ta..."
Nolan didn't let Harley to even finish. "It's late. Let's go down and eat. Kelton, tomorrow, we will leave and head to where we need to build the village." Nolan stood up. "As for the payment, don't worry. I would give you a house in the village and thirty silver taels."
"Boss, thirty taels is too much. The house would be enough." Kelton said in shock. Not only was he free, but Nolan was willing to give him that much.
"I would need your help in the future. Take the thirty silver taels as me hiring you to work only for me forever. Of course, if you don't want to work for me, you could leave anytime. Also, if you work for me, I would give you even more." Nolan headed to the door.
Seeing that he couldn't change Nolan's mind, Kelton together with Harley followed behind, and the three of them left the chamber.
...
On the first floor, they sat at the only empty table in the corner.
"Boss!" Layla came rushing.
"Have you been well, Layla?" Nolan asked with a gentle smile.
"Yes, it's all thanks to the boss." She said with a wide smile.
"Kelton, are you hungry?" Nolan asked.
Kelton shook his head.
"Layla, please bring us one jar of wine." He ordered.
Layla immediately ran into the door on the wall next to the stairs. The kitchen.
It didn't take long before Layla arrived with the wine jar and three cups.
She poured wine into the cups and then left.
Nolan raised the cup. "For the future."
"Cheers!" Kelton and Harley raised their cup, and the three of them drank the wine in one gulp.
"Ahhh! Great wine!" Nolan exclaimed as he placed the empty cup on the table.
Harley couldn't accompany them very long. After all, he and Nara ran the restaurant, so naturally, he was busy.
However, Nolan and Kelton chatting and drinking.
They chatted and drank wine for another half an hour until the whole jar emptied.
The wine was not strong, so they were not drunk.
Nolan stood up. "Follow me."
Remembering the design he drew, Nolan led the way and stopped below the stairs.
Kelton didn't need to ask. He already knew where Nolan was bringing him. He knew the place like his pocket. After all, he was the one who built it.
Nolan opened a floor door. Going downstairs, they arrived at the basement, which was now a gambling facility.
The place was full of people. Stuck to the wall was a large half-moon table. It was like a reception table in a modern hotel. Behind the table was Harley, who observed the situation in the basement.
The people there were all gamblers, so problems were sure to arise, but with a master like him there, everything was running smoothly.
Nolan observed the place for a few minutes. He never liked those places, so he and Kelton left the basement before Harley could notice them.
He was reluctant to build a place like this under the restaurant, but it was undeniable that those gambling facilities were the most profitable business. Plus, he was in need of money. The more, the better.
"Kelton, go rest. Tomorrow I will come early." Nolan said.
Kelton nodded and headed upstairs to his chamber while Nolan left the restaurant and headed to Harley's house.
...
Nolan opened his eyes.
The sun just started rising. Harley, Nara, and Henry were asleep.
He quietly left his room. In the living room, he found a brush and a piece of paper.
On the paper, he wrote:
"In seven days, I would come again. Please prepare at least a hundred pieces of clothes and boots."
After leaving the message on the table, Nolan left.
He headed to the restaurant. Since it was early in the morning, and there were no people in the restaurant.
Only Layla was cleaning the tables.
"Boss, why did you come so early?" She asked when she noticed him.
"I would leave. I came to get Kelton," Nolan replied as he headed upstairs.
The chambers were full, so he quietly walked.
"Ahh!"
Nolan heard a low woman voice from the chamber he passed.
'Is it possible they are doing that this early in the morning? And at a place like this?' Nolan thought with a blush on his face.
He arrived before Kelton's chamber. He didn't bother to knock and directly entered.
Kelton was sound asleep.
"Wake up!" Nolan said, but there was no reaction. "Wake up!" Nolan shook him, but again, no reaction.
'You fucking pig! I am going to die, and you are sleeping here without even an ounce of worry.' Nolan screamed inside.
Slap!
Nolan slapped him across the face.
"What happened!" Kelton jumped out of his bed. "Boss?" He muttered sleepily.
"Prepare yourself. You have five minutes. Bring some more clothes. I'll wait for you downstairs." Nolan left the chamber.
...
Nolan sat down on a chair.
Layla stopped cleaning and sat next to him.
She sat next to him, but she didn't know what to say. There was an awkward silence between them.
"Why did you try to seduce me back then?" Nolan asked, breaking the silence. He accepted Layla, but he still couldn't trust her completely. He felt like she could stab him in the back at any moment.
Layla lowered her head. "I...had to!" She muttered in a barely hearable tone.
"No. There is only: 'I want to', and 'I don't want to'. There is no 'I had to'." Nolan said. He was not going to accept I had to. He wanted to hear a reason, a valid reason.
"My parents ran a small food stall." Tears appeared in her eyes. "My parents owed money to Rosalia, so they killed my parents. They took me and told me that If I paid hundred taels of silver, they would set me free.
From then, I worked and did everything to earn money. Of course, everything except selling my body.
The night you broke in. I had paid them the hundred silver taels, but the innkeeper refused to let me go like that. So he wanted to... you know." She explained.
'She kept her innocence even in times like those. Truly respectable.' Nolan couldn't help but admire her a little..
"Layla, I owe you an apology." He said, slightly lowering his head.
Creak!
The floor door opened.
Nolan was facing the floor door with his back, so he turned to see who were the people who came out of the basement.
Two gorilla-like men came out of the basement.
Their eyes met with Layla and Nolan. "You are..."
Swoosh!
Before they could finish their sentence, Nolan stood up with a lightning-fast speed and dashed towards them.
Nolan was fast. So fast that the men couldn't react in time.
Pam! Pam!
Nolan hit them in the neck, knocking them unconscious. They fell to the ground.
Nolan recognized their build. They were definitely Rosalia's men.
"Boss, what did you..." Layla was stunned.
"Is there any empty chamber upstairs?" Nolan asked, but Layla was too stunned and scared to speak. "Tch!" Nolan clicked his tongue. "Useless!" His mood completely changed.
He took both the men, one with each hand, and dragged them upstairs with all his strength.
His heart was beating like crazy. This was very dangerous. If someone sees him, this would damage their reputation and possibly lead to closing the restaurant.
'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' Nolan cursed inside. 'How could I overlook such an important thing? Why didn't I think that there was a possibility they would come to our restaurant and run into Layla?'
Nolan opened the door of Kelton's chamber.
"AHH!" Kelton screamed. He was just about to open the door and head downstairs, but Nolan opened the door the moment he wanted to, and scared him.
"Get out of the way!" Nolan screamed quietly.
"What happened?" He asked, still standing before the door because he was too shocked to see Nolan dragging two bodies behind him.
Pam!
Nolan kicked him with the leg. "Get the fu.ck out of the way."
Forced, Kelton moved out of the way, and Nolan entered inside with the bodies.
He dropped the bodies and closed the door.
"Why do you all act like that? Fuc.king do what I told you to." Angrily said, Nolan.
"What happened?" Kelton asked again.
"It's a long story. Go downstairs and tell Layla that no one is allowed to enter this chamber. Also, call Harley.
"What happens..." Kelton was bout to ask for the third time.
"Get the fu.ck down and do what I told you!" Nolan screamed, cutting his question midway.
Kelton hurriedly left the chamber. He even left the door open when he left.
"That retard!" Nolan closed the door. "Can't he see the situation? Why doesn't he destroy the wall and let everyone see?"